Bears stadium – After years of stops and starts, the Bears say plans for a stadium within Chicago city limits are done. The team now pushes Hammond, Indiana—but the timeline still refuses to settle, keeping the franchise’s “finish line” out of reach.
The clock on the Chicago Bears’ stadium future keeps moving, but the goal line keeps slipping. In a span of just months. the franchise has told fans it’s run out of options inside Chicago. pointed toward Hammond. Indiana. and still left the bigger question hanging: when this finally becomes something shovel-ready. where will the Bears truly land?.
The Bears’ pursuit began in 2021 with an Arlington Heights target. Five years later, the team has cycled through multiple locations—plus a proposal that would have kept them at Soldier Field—only to keep restarting negotiations as taxes, valuation, and public funding collided.
At the center of the saga are the same recurring fault lines: what the Bears want to build, what governments are willing to fund, and what local leaders consider acceptable. And even as the team signals momentum in Indiana, it stops short of offering the kind of certainty fans have been waiting for.
September 29, 2021 marked the first major pivot: the Bears announced their Purchase and Sale Agreement with Churchill Downs, Inc. for the site of the Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights, Illinois—32 miles away from Soldier Field.
In July 2022. then-Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed adding a dome to Soldier Field in an effort to encourage the Bears to remain in the city. The Bears did not pursue that option. In a statement to the Daily Herald at the time. a Bears spokesperson said. “The only potential project the Chicago Bears are exploring for a new stadium development is Arlington Park. As part of our mutual agreement with the seller of that property. we are not pursuing alternative stadium deals or sites. including renovations to Soldier Field. while we are under contract.”.
By September 2022, the team released renderings for the Arlington Heights development, outlining preliminary plans for a new stadium and a surrounding district.
The financial commitment became official on February 13. 2023. when the sale of the Arlington Heights site closed with a $197.2 million price tag. The Bears said the purchase did not guarantee they would build the new stadium and surrounding “entertainment district.” The team said. “There is still a tremendous amount of due diligence work to be done to determine if constructing an enclosed state-of-the-art stadium and multi-purpose entertainment district is feasible.”.
June 2023 brought a major stall. Chicago PBS station WTTW reported the plan ran into trouble due to Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s valuation of the Arlington Heights property coming in higher than the Bears anticipated—leading to a high property tax bill. The Bears said the assessment was not consistent with the property’s reality. arguing in a statement that. “The property’s original assessment at five times the 2021 tax value. and the recent settlement with (former site owner) Churchill Downs for 2022 being three times higher. fails to reflect the property is not operational and not commercially viable in its current state.”.
The negotiations briefly turned the Bears’ attention away from Arlington Heights.
In early 2024, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reported that negotiations over property taxes reached a $100 million impasse. As that deadlock hardened, the Bears pivoted to a plan south of Soldier Field—still within the Chicago city limits.
ESPN reported in March that the Bears’ new plan involved committing more than $2 billion toward building a new. publicly owned domed stadium. Kevin Warren. the Bears team president and CEO. said in a statement to ESPN that. “The Chicago Bears are proud to contribute over $2 billion to build a stadium and improve open spaces for all families. fans and the general public to enjoy in the City of Chicago. The future stadium of the Chicago Bears will bring a transformative opportunity to our region – boosting the economy. creating jobs. facilitating mega events and generating millions in tax revenue. We look forward to sharing more information when our plans are finalized.”.
By April, the Bears revealed renderings of the lakefront stadium proposal, estimating the project at $4.7 billion. Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson championed the project. while Illinois governor JB Pritzker was less enthusiastic about the likelihood the Bears would request taxpayer help. Pritzker said. “I’m highly skeptical of the proposal that’s been made and I believe strongly that this is not a high priority for legislators and certainly not for me. when I compare it to all the other things. ” and contrasted it with other state priorities.
On October 9. 2024. Warren said the Bears were focused entirely on the stadium project on the lakeshore south of Soldier Field and Chicago’s Museum Campus. adding a tentative timeline that he said could move the project from talk to concrete work. “We’re continuing to make progress,” Warren said. “We stay focused still to be able to be in the ground, start construction sometime in 2025. We’re having regular meetings with key business leaders, key politicians, just staying focused and on course.”.
But by April 2, 2025, momentum again shifted—this time back toward Arlington Heights. The Chicago Tribune reported that Warren said the focus now was “both downtown and Arlington Heights” after the conclusion of the 2025 owners meetings. Warren also said progress had been made to resolve “tax dynamics” and that his goal remained to begin construction at one of the sites by the end of 2025. adding. “My goal still remains to be able to move dirt around in 2025. Which is important because there is a lot of preconstruction work that needs to go into these projects.”.
On September 8. 2025. Warren penned an open letter to Bears fans. declaring Arlington Heights “the only site within Cook County that meets that standard” on the day of the team’s season-opening game. Cronin reported that one main reason the Bears had to scrap the lakefront plan again came back to taxes and clashing visions for how the development would be funded; the ESPN reporter wrote that the team couldn’t ease concerns about the “burden placed on taxpayers to fund the infrastructure.”.
December 17, 2025 marked another escalation of uncertainty. In another open letter to Bears fans. Warren announced the team would explore an expanded search after hitting a roadblock in negotiations with the state of Illinois over its current plan. The expanded search included Arlington Heights and also “opportunities throughout the wider Chicagoland region,” including “Northwest Indiana.”.
ESPN reported the Bears had been seeking tax breaks and $855 million in public funds to help build the stadium. Warren’s letter said Illinois state lawmakers balked at that request, producing another block to the Bears’ Arlington Heights vision. Warren wrote: “We have not asked for state taxpayer dollars to build the stadium at Arlington Park. We asked only for a commitment to essential local infrastructure (roads. utilities. and site improvements) which is more than typical for projects of this size. Additionally, we sought reasonable property tax certainty to secure financing. We listened to state leadership and relied on their direction and guidance. yet our efforts have been met with no legislative partnership.” He added. “We have been told directly by State leadership. our project will not be a priority in 2026.”.
By February 2026, momentum built toward Northwest Indiana. On Feb. 19, Indiana governor Mike Braun posted on social media site X that Indiana “identified a promising site near Wolf Lake in Hammond,” a city bordering Chicago and the Illinois border.
That same day, Indiana’s state House Ways and Means Committee unanimously passed an amended version of Senate Bill 27. The bill would create a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to issue bonds to finance the stadium’s construction.
The Bears issued their own statement via NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Feb. 19. calling Senate Bill 27 “the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date.” Rapoport also reported that Illinois lawmakers canceled a meeting set for Thursday morning in the state House. “where a project bill (involving the Bears) was to be discussed.”.
On X. Matt Hill. who is Pritzker’s Deputy Chief of Staff. wrote that. “Illinois was ready to move this bill forward. After a productive three hour meeting yesterday (Feb. 18), the Bears leaders requested the ILGA (Illinois General Assembly) pause the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. This morning, we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois.”.
Within a week, Indiana legislators voted to approve Senate Bill 27, and Braun signed it into Indiana state law one week later on Feb. 26.
By May 21, 2026, the Bears declared an end to stadium plans within Chicago city limits. They said their future stadium would be either Arlington Heights or Hammond, Indiana. “The Chicago Bears have exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago. which was our initial goal. ” the team said in a statement. “There is not a viable site in the city.”.
On June 5, 2026, the team moved further—saying it was moving forward with the development plan in Hammond. Bears chairman George H. McCaskey and team president and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement that. “We 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. It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses.”.
Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson responded with skepticism. He said he was “not surpris[ed]” by the announcement and expressed doubt about the Bears’ proposed relocation. “Without a final site selection. until we see shovels in the ground in Hammond. the City of Chicago will continue to engage in discussions grounded in the interests of our residents. ” Johnson said.
One fact pattern runs through the entire timeline: every time the Bears appear to tighten their focus—Arlington Heights, then the lakefront, then Arlington Heights again—the negotiations come back to the same pressure points: taxation, funding, and who pays for what.
That’s why the current moment feels less like a finish and more like a turn in a long corridor. The Bears say they are moving forward with Hammond. Chicago’s mayor says he won’t treat it as settled until there’s a final site selection and “shovels in the ground.” And with the team still describing its future as conditional—either Arlington Heights or Hammond—the stadium saga still doesn’t offer the clean ending fans have been promised for years.
Chicago Bears stadium Soldier Field dome Arlington Heights Hammond Indiana Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority Kevin Warren George H. McCaskey JB Pritzker Mike Braun Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson property taxes bonds public funding