Bears stadium – The Chicago Bears say they will advance a stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana, but Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office pushed back—saying discussions will continue and no move is a done deal. The franchise’s long, tax-driven stadium hunt still a
The question was supposed to be settled in Chicago terms. But on June 5, when the Chicago Bears posted an update about moving a stadium project forward in Hammond, Indiana, Chicago’s mayoral office treated it like just another chapter in a saga that still isn’t over.
Roughly an hour after the Bears shared their latest stadium development message. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office issued a statement saying the announcement wasn’t surprising and that talks would continue. The Bears. a day and a half into the weekend of public reaction. had framed their move as a step toward “advance our stadium development project in Hammond. Indiana. with the exact site to be selected.” Johnson’s office responded with a quieter but sharper insistence: nothing is final.
“Over the last several years the Bears have stated their intentions in multiple jurisdictions, today’s announcement is not surprising,” the statement reads. “It’s also not surprising that Bears officials have stated this vote does not mean a move to Hammond is a done deal.”
The mayor’s office added that without a final site selection—“until we see shovels in the ground in Hammond”—the City of Chicago would keep engaging in discussions grounded in the interests of its residents.
The Bears, for their part, still leave room for maneuver. Even after their Hammond announcement, the search reportedly appears to remain between Hammond and Arlington Heights, Illinois.
The sequence of the stadium hunt has been driven for years by taxes. state funding. and the hard arithmetic of who pays for what. The Bears initially purchased the Arlington International Racecourse site in Arlington Heights in 2023. with plans at the time for a 60. 000-seat stadium. But in early 2024, those plans shifted after what was described as a $100 million impasse in negotiations over property taxes.
When that fight changed the path, the team pivoted again. The Bears revealed a new solution in a planned $2 billion investment to build a stadium on the Lake Michigan lakeshore south of Soldier Field. along with additional spending to develop the surrounding area. That plan. which would have kept the Bears in Chicago. was later scrapped ahead of the 2025 regular season. after the team couldn’t ease concerns about the “burden placed on taxpayers to fund the infrastructure. ” a point Cronin wrote about at the time.
Hammond entered the conversation in December. when team president Kevin Warren announced in an open letter that the Bears were no longer prioritizing Chicago or Arlington Heights alone. but instead expanded their search to Northwest Indiana. That shift was followed in February by Indiana lawmakers voting to create the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority. intended to raise funds and develop a plan to build infrastructure for a new Bears stadium.
By May, the Bears were signaling limits on their options. In a statement, they said they had “exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago,” and that “there is not a viable site in the city.” The team said the only sites under consideration were in Arlington Heights and Hammond.
On June 5, the Bears’ Hammond language suggested forward motion—yet it still didn’t sound like a completed decision. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin wrote shortly after the Bears’ initial statement that Indiana was “in the lead right now. ” adding that Illinois could still “get back in the race. ” pointing to the state’s lack of legislation that would have insured the Bears’ property tax certainty.
After the June 5 update, a league spokesperson said the stadium committee and the League were kept apprised of all developments. “The club has kept the stadium committee and the League apprised of all developments,” the spokesperson told USA TODAY Sports in a statement on June 5.
Taken together, the timeline leaves Chicago with a familiar kind of tension: the Bears keep moving the process forward in one jurisdiction while insisting the process still isn’t finished—and Chicago keeps insisting it won’t concede until the city sees physical proof in Hammond.
The stakes are personal, too, because the Bears’ home history runs deep in the Chicago landscape. The franchise has played within the Chicago city limits practically every season since George Halas moved the team from Decatur to Chicago and renamed it from the Staleys to the Bears in 1922. The Bears spent 50 years at Wrigley Field, home of MLB’s Chicago Cubs, before moving to Soldier Field in 1971. The 2002 season was the only year they played all home games outside Chicago—staying in Illinois while playing at Memorial Stadium in Champaign—because Soldier Field was renovated.
For now, the Bears’ stadium search is still a two-site race in public view: Hammond and Arlington Heights. Chicago’s mayoral office. though. has made the message unmistakable—until a final site is selected and shovels hit the ground. the negotiations in Chicago are not just ongoing. They’re still part of the fight.
Chicago Bears Hammond Indiana stadium Brandon Johnson Arlington Heights stadium Kevin Warren Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority Soldier Field property taxes NFL stadium development Chicago sports business
So basically the Bears are shopping for tax breaks again?
I don’t get why Chicago is acting shocked. They’ve been mad at the Bears forever. If they’re not putting shovels in the ground yet then why even post updates like this?
Mayor Brandon Johnson said it’s not a done deal but like… it’s still a done deal if the Bears want it bad enough lol. Also how does Hammond even just fall into this? I heard somewhere they already bought land or something? Not sure.
This whole stadium thing is exhausting. They keep saying “advance” and then “talks will continue” like it’s some group project that never ends. Meanwhile taxpayers get dragged into the math every time. If the site is supposedly between Hammond and Arlington Heights, then why is Chicago even involved at all? Just let them go already.