The Chicago Bears Board of Directors voted to advance the development of a new stadium, not in Chicago, but in Hammond, Indiana, according to a statement released by the Bears on social media Friday.
The Bears have been exploring options for a new stadium for years. Previous reports have had potential stadium sites in downtown Chicago, Arlington Heights, and even Iowa.
The Bears have been playing at historic Soldier Field since 1971. Their current lease at Soldier Field, which is the smallest stadium in the NFL, ends in 2033, according to the Washington Post.
However long the Bears may have been trying to escape downtown Chicago, this is their first concrete step towards a new stadium site.
While the move to Hammond is not set in stone according to ESPN sources, it is the only option that the Bears have made actual steps towards. A large reason for this is that Indiana has promised the Bears a significant amount of money in public subsidies, estimated at around $1 billion.
Illinois has not made any such promises, leaving the state at odds with the ownership group of the Bears. Governor JB Pritzker has said that he “wasn’t willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money in order to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team.”
The decision point for the Bears’ new stadium deal may very well come down to which state gives them the most public subsidies. That, as of right now, gives Indiana the clear upper hand.
This closely mirrors the dynamic at play when the Kansas City Chiefs finalized a deal to move to a new stadium across the border in Kansas late last year. In that instance, the state of Kansas offered significantly more public funding to the stadium project than the Chiefs’ current home state of Missouri.
The fanbase seems to be divided on whether or not public funds should be used to pay for a new stadium. Illinois State Senator Karina Villa asked constituents on her Facebook page for their thoughts on the matter. She got responses like, “Do what it takes to keep the Bears here”, “No more public money from Illinois to make billionaires even richer”, and “I am ambivalent. Sports stadiums do generate funds for our state, and stadium owners will go to whoever puts the most money in their pockets.”
Many people online have expressed their displeasure with the potential move. Comments on the Bears’ social media posts include cracks such as “It’s going to be different calling them the Indiana Bears,” and “Yeah, let’s make 95% of our fan base drive 2 hours.”
Despite this pushback, the Bears won’t be the first team in the NFL to not play in the city or even the state that they are named for. Many teams, including the Cowboys, Bills, 49ers, Rams, and Chargers, play in nearby cities or suburbs of their namesake. The Giants and Jets famously play in New Jersey, despite being named “New York”.
Even though they will be in a whole other state, if the Bears do indeed move to Hammond, Indiana, they won’t even be the furthest team from their home city. Levi’s Stadium, home to the San Francisco 49ers, is over 40 miles from downtown San Francisco. Comparatively, Hammond is only about 20 miles from downtown Chicago.
The consensus seems to be that the Bears’ goal is to build a domed stadium to establish a mixed-use venue that can host events year-round. This is likely to attract a Super Bowl bid, which has, for the past several years, gone only to warm-weather cities or teams with domed stadiums. That goal is backed by their recent press release, which says, “We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region…It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses.”
Make sure to check out our brand new NFL Draft page for more content like Bears New Stadium Deal!
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers!
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
