{"id":39908,"date":"2026-06-05T16:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=39908"},"modified":"2026-06-05T16:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:35:52","slug":"bears-advance-unspecified-indiana-stadium-plan-but-keep-illinois-lawmakers-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/sports\/football\/39908-bears-advance-unspecified-indiana-stadium-plan-but-keep-illinois-lawmakers-on-the-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears &#8216;Advance&#8217; Unspecified Indiana Stadium Plan&#8211;But Keep Illinois Lawmakers on the Line"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A top Senate negotiator says the team is still engaging with Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By BRENDEN MOORE<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Capitol News Illinois\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"mailto:bmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Article Summary<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Chicago Bears announced the team\u2019s board of directors \u201cvoted to advance\u201d a stadium project in Hammond, Indiana on Friday.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s the biggest step toward moving yet, but a top Illinois Senate negotiator said he got a call from the team\u2019s president and CEO indicating Illinois isn\u2019t necessarily out of the mix.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bears\u2019 statement acknowledged that an Indiana site is \u201cto be selected,\u201d a level of ambiguity that\u2019s been a hallmark of the team\u2019s recent public communications.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gov. JB Pritzker issued a statement saying the team\u2019s frequent \u201cshifting\u201d of its position on a stadium location \u201chas hindered their progress.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SPRINGFIELD \u2014 First Arlington Heights was the sole focus. Then it was Chicago. Then back to Arlington Heights. Then either Arlington Heights or Hammond. Then perhaps Chicago if the other two options fell through. And now, apparently Hammond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The long, winding Chicago Bears stadium road took another turn Friday, when the team announced that its board of directors \u201cvoted to advance\u201d a stadium project across the state line in Indiana. It comes just days after Illinois lawmakers failed to advance legislation that would have granted the organization tax certainty on a stadium project in Illinois.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city,\u201d Bears Chairman George McCaskey and Team President Kevin Warren said in a statement. \u201cIt will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is the biggest step the \u201cpride and joy of Illinois\u201d has taken towards bolting the state it\u2019s called home for its entire existence for Hammond, Indiana, where lawmakers have promised more than $1 billion in public subsidies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But even so, the Bears\u2019 statement left what\u2019s become trademark ambiguity. They did not signal that the vote amounted to a final decision. And they even acknowledged that the exact site for a stadium in Hammond was \u201cto be selected.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A top Illinois lawmaker confirmed to Capitol News Illinois that any talk of the Bears leaving the state is premature.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI got a call from Kevin Warren this morning and he told me they were going to release a statement about moving forward with Hammond,\u201d said Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago. \u201cHe also said he looks forward to continuing discussions with me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cunnigham also pointed out the Bears\u2019 statement resembled the one the team put out in February after Indiana lawmakers approved a bill creating a public stadium authority.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond,\u201d the teams said in a statement in February \u2014 before deploying a cadre of lobbyists in Illinois\u2019 Capitol for the next four months in an effort to get a deal done.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, the lead House negotiator, said Warren also called him. He said he finished the conversation \u201cby committing to continue discussions around their pursuit of a new stadium in Illinois.\u201d Buckner also noted that the statement released today \u201cis actually less definitive\u201d than the one earlier this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat\u2019s not a criticism,\u201d Buckner said. \u201cIt\u2019s simply an acknowledgement that the Bears\u2019 own language leaves additional flexibility and does not represent a final decision.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u2018Shifting their position\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A spokesperson for Gov. JB Pritzker said that the team\u2019s shifting positions have hurt its progress with Illinois lawmakers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Bears have built a storied legacy in Illinois for over 100 years but have spent the last six years, and especially the last few months, shifting their position on a stadium location. That has hindered their progress,\u201d said Pritzker spokesperson Matt Hill. \u201cToday appears to be another instance of that after Illinois leaders have been working with the Bears in good faith. Gov. Pritzker has always been clear that he wants the Bears to stay in Illinois and still remains open to a sensible solution that protects taxpayers.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In his office on June 1 after the legislature failed to pass a Bears-focused incentives bill, Pritzker acknowledged the team leaving \u201cmight happen.\u201d He added: \u201cBut the reality is: I wasn\u2019t willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money in order to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hoosier lawmakers were more willing to play tax-break ball. And they viewed Friday\u2019s announcement as cause to celebrate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe look forward to building a partnership as strong as the &#8217;85 Bears defense, creating opportunities and economic growth that will benefit our state and the Bears organization for decades to come,\u201d Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said in a social media post.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike the Indiana stadium package, Illinois lawmakers have long insisted that the state would not finance direct stadium construction. They instead focused on legislation that would give the Bears long-term tax certainty in Illinois.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bears in 2023 finalized their $197 million purchase of the 326-acre former Arlington Park site, which they eyed for a new domed stadium and surrounding mixed use stadium district. To move forward, the team said it needed passage of a megaprojects bill that would have allowed them to negotiate and lock in a lower property tax payment with local taxing bodies for up to 40 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the legislation simmered on the legislative backburner for years in Springfield. In 2024, they shifted to a proposal for a publicly owned stadium on Chicago\u2019s lakefront. It would have required more than $900 million in public funds for stadium construction and $1.5 billion for surrounding infrastructure. Pritzker and state lawmakers immediately dismissed the idea as a nonstarter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eventually, the team pivoted back to Arlington Heights. But with no meaningful movement in Springfield on the megaprojects bill, the Bears announced ahead of their matchup with the rival Green Bay Packers in December that they were expanding their search for a stadium site to include Northwest Indiana.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indiana lawmakers subsequently <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/pritzker-says-bears-statement-not-some-confirmation-that-theyre-moving-to-indiana\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">passed a stadium authority bill in February<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Illinois lawmakers kick things off<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, Illinois lawmakers got to work, with the governor\u2019s office pushing the megaprojects concept as a statewide economic development tool that wasn\u2019t necessarily Bears-specific. A version of the legislation <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-house-approves-megaprojects-bill-but-the-bears-want-changes\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">passed the House in April<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the concept did not have enough votes in the Senate. It was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/illinois-lawmakers-fail-to-pass-bears-bill-despite-goal-line-push\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">scrapped in favor of legislation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that would have allowed six Cook County municipalities to create local stadium authorities \u2014 a public ownership model that would&#8217;ve allowed the Bears to avoid paying property taxes altogether. It passed the Senate in the final hours of spring session but wasn\u2019t called in the House.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Republican Leader John Curran, of Downers Grove, accused Democratic leadership of &#8220;dysfunction.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;It&#8217;s time for Gov. Pritzker to Bear Down, address the infighting in the Democratic legislative caucuses and bring Republicans substantially into the process to help produce a bipartisan plan that protects taxpayers, grows our economy and keeps the Chicago Bears in Illinois for generations to come,\u201d Curran said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">House Speaker Emanuel \u201cChris\u201d Welch, D-Hillside, said in a statement that \u201cIllinois remains open to ongoing efforts to secure the Bears in Illinois,\u201d but acknowledged that \u201cit will take time to get it right\u201d and reiterated the state\u2019s line in the sand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhile Indiana is willing to raise taxes and promise $1 billion in taxpayer funds, Illinois has focused on the needs of working families who want relief at the gas pump, at the store, and on their insurance bills\u2014not taxpayer-funded stadiums,\u201d Welch said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u2018Too little, too late\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Welch has ruled out calling lawmakers back for a summer session to deal with the Bears.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, told Capitol News Illinois he doesn\u2019t think the Bears\u2019 announcement is a bluff and said Illinois might need a special session sooner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI mean waiting until fall veto session, they\u2019ll be five, six months into moving forward on the Indiana project,\u201d Ugaste said. \u201cI think we\u2019ll probably be talking too little, too late at that point.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ugaste, who voted against the original megaprojects bill that passed the House over property tax concerns, said Democratic leaders dragged their feet on the issue for too long. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere&#8217;s a failure of our leadership to get this done,\u201d he said. \u201cThey came to us a couple years back. They sat on it for a while, and when they finally started working on it this spring, they dropped the ball.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Buckner said there remains time to hammer out a deal in Illinois, noting that the Bears haven\u2019t taken Illinois off the table.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere will be plenty of time to debate how this process has unfolded,\u201d Buckner said. \u201cI\u2019m less interested in relitigating the past than I am in focusing on the future. What I took away from today\u2019s conversation is that the door remains open. So does ours.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check back for updates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ben Szalinski and Jerry Nowicki contributed to this report.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A top Senate negotiator says the team is still engaging with Illinois By BRENDEN MOORE Capitol News Illinois\u00a0 bmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com\u00a0\u00a0 Article Summary The Chicago Bears announced the team\u2019s board of directors [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-football"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bears &#039;Advance&#039; Unspecified Indiana Stadium Plan-But Keep Illinois Lawmakers on the Line - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/sports\/football\/39908-bears-advance-unspecified-indiana-stadium-plan-but-keep-illinois-lawmakers-on-the-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bears &#039;Advance&#039; 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