The Chicago Bears embarked on a new era in February 2023 with the purchase of a site in Arlington Heights where the team hopes to build a new enclosed stadium with a massive entertainment and residential development.
In April 2024, the team laid out elaborate plans for a new publicly owned domed stadium, but now, the storied NFL franchise’s sights are focused on the northwest suburbs — or is it northwest Indiana?
Here’s what to know about the long road to a new stadium.
So, Indiana? Really?
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed a bill that outlines a financial structure for a Bears stadium in Hammond on Feb. 26.
“We made it clear from the beginning that Indiana is open for business. I’m thrilled to sign Senate Bill 27 to create the framework to build a new world-class stadium in Northwest Indiana. Now let’s get this across the goal line,” Braun said in a statement on social media with a picture of him signing the bill.
After Braun signed the bill into law, the Bears sent out a statement: “Indiana has taken important steps over the last few months, and we are grateful for the leadership reflected by Governor Braun signing SB 27, establishing the framework for a stadium development in Northwest Indiana. We continue to work on the necessary due diligence and appreciate the ongoing engagement with Indiana state and local leaders.”
Braun and GOP lawmakers have acted quickly to encourage the NFL charter franchise across the border, a development that would be a significant economic advantage for “The Region,” as northwest Indiana is called, as well as a political victory against Democratic-dominated Illinois. Republican House Speaker Todd Huston sponsored the measure, having called it “an incredible economic opportunity.”
Under the Indiana plan, the Bears would pay $2 billion toward the construction costs. The Bears would have to investigate whether the site meets all its requirements for a stadium before signing any deal, just as when the team made similar offers for sites in Chicago and Arlington Heights.
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Is Arlington Heights still a possibility?
While Indiana officials play up their efforts to lure the Bears across the border for a new stadium, Gov. JB Pritzker said he and his staff have made “progress” to incentivize the football team to stay in Illinois.
At the Illinois State Capitol, the House Revenue and Finance Committee approved legislation in a 13-7 vote on Feb. 26 that would allow the Bears to negotiate a special payment to local taxing bodies in lieu of property taxes — key legislation that the team says it would need to aid in its move to Arlington Heights.
The Illinois bill would require businesses with mega development plans, like the Bears, to enter into an agreement for making special payments in lieu of property taxes for at least 20 years.
Rolling Meadows Mayor Lara Sanoica, who supports bringing the Bears to neighboring Arlington Heights, said in a statement that the proposed Indiana law would be a bad deal for workers.
But regardless of where the Bears end up, Halas Hall will stay in Lake Forest, team officials told the Tribune.
- Gov. JB Pritzker suggests no matter how Indiana vs. Illinois fight goes, new Bears home won’t be in Chicago
- From Staley Field to Halas Hall, a tour of the Bears’ practice and office facilities
- NFL commissioner tours potential new Bears stadium sites, including Arlington Heights and northwest Indiana
- Arlington Heights calls for state lawmakers to act on Bears proposed new stadium
- Most Chicagoans want the Bears to stay, poll finds, but don’t want to spend tax dollars for a new stadium
- As Bears pivot to Arlington Heights, Mayor Brandon Johnson says ‘I’ve done my part’
What about Halas Hall?
While questions remain about where the Bears will build a new stadium, the team reaffirmed on Feb. 20 that its practice facility and corporate headquarters — Halas Hall — will remain in Lake Forest.
The clarification came after Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott said during a news conference that Hammond’s Northwest Indiana stadium proposal includes a practice facility. “That’s absolutely correct,” McDermott said when asked whether the proposal contemplates football operations in addition to a stadium. “They are talking about everything.”
Following those remarks, the Bears reiterated that Halas Hall will remain in Lake Forest, even as Northwest Indiana and Arlington Heights remain under consideration for a future stadium site.
What’s the history of the team in Chicago?
While the Bears have called Soldier Field home since 1971, the team has discussed or proposed playing its games elsewhere throughout much of the last 50 years.
Wrigley Field served as the original home venue for the team when it moved to Chicago in 1921 and remained there through 1970. The team won nearly 70% of its home games during that span. But the Bears were forced to find a new home after the American Football League merged with the National Football League and required stadiums to seat at least 50,000 fans. The team played its last game at Wrigley Field on Dec. 13, 1970, beating the Packers 35-17.
What would an Arlington Heights stadium look like?
Construction of a new Bears stadium in Arlington Heights would generate thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity, but would also require substantial taxpayer support for infrastructure, according to team projections released on Sept. 30.
Infrastructure such as entrance and exit ramps from near Route 53 and changes to the adjacent Metra train line would cost $855 million in public funds, the team’s consultant estimated in its report. The report attempts to assuage concerns about the price tag by pointing to gross state tax revenues of almost $1.3 billion over 40 years, according to projections from HR&A Advisors, Inc.
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Arlington Park’s rebirth
One week before his inauguration as the new mayor of Arlington Heights, Jim Tinaglia walked through the downtown streets he’s called home for more than 50 years. What was once a “sleepy little town,” as he described it, has become a bustling community, a place Tinaglia has had a hand in building, himself, through his work as an architect.
He’d built “at least a dozen” places here over the past 35 years.
If there’d been a constant amid all the growth in one of Chicago’s largest suburbs it was probably the horse racing track a little ways northwest of downtown, the one now locked away and waiting for new life. For decades, Arlington Park had been a deeply-ingrained part of the culture here, and a source of pride.
“Our identity,” Tinaglia said of the track. “For 100 years.”
Now it will be his mission to lead Arlington Park’s rebirth — to complete the long, winding journey of bringing the Bears to Arlington Heights. It’s a large part of why he ran for mayor, and also why he believes he was elected: to finish a deal that has proven elusive since a rush of early momentum, and to help convince Bears leadership, once and for all, that they should move from Chicago to the northwest suburbs.
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- Bears show renderings for enclosed stadium complex in Arlington Heights, but say they’d expect some public funding for surrounding entertainment district
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- Arlington Heights mayor denies claims of pressuring school districts in ongoing Bears land dispute
What about a domed stadium on the Chicago lakefront?
Warren envisions a stadium just south of the Bears’ current home at Soldier Field, on the site of what is now a parking lot. The facility would seat about 65,000 for football, with standing room up to 70,000, and a capacity of 77,000 for basketball.
Unlike Soldier Field, it could hold events year-round, including concerts, soccer, college basketball playoffs, or, once in a great while, the Super Bowl.
The Bears say they would pay $2 billion, a huge private investment, plus $300 million requested from the NFL. The rest of the $3.2 billion cost of the stadium alone would be paid with $900 million from the state. The team said another $325 million would be needed for infrastructure, including improved road access and utilities as part of up to $1.5 billion for full build-out with extras like a hotel.
The public money would be borrowed through bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, or ISFA, which previously financed construction of Guaranteed Rate Field, where the White Sox play, and the 2003 renovation of Soldier Field. The bonds are to be repaid over 40 years by the city’s 2% hotel tax.
“I remain skeptical about this proposal, and I wonder whether it’s a good deal for the taxpayers,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “There are a lot of priorities that the state has, and I’m not sure that this is among the highest priorities for taxpayers.”
- Bears’ domed stadium proposal sparks excitement, questions — and early opposition
- Chicago community groups join forces to oppose new Bears stadium on the lakefront
Could Indiana be an option?
The Indiana legislature moved a bill aimed at attracting the Bears to Northwest Indiana just yards from the end zone, with final approval by the Senate on April 9.
House Bill 1292, authored by Rep. Earl Harris, D-East Chicago, would establish a Northwest Indiana professional development commission and a professional sports development fund. Harris said the commission would be tasked with exploring and implementing strategies to attract one or more sports franchises to Northwest Indiana.
“The Bears are the big boy, so that has received the most attention,” Harris said. The bill passed the Senate 46-2.
Or what about another site in Chicago?
Other cities and municipalities around Illinois have previously expressed interest in talking to the Bears about a future stadium.
- Bears reconsidering Michael Reese Hospital site with lakefront stadium proposal stalled
- Naperville mayor defends meeting with Bears about stadium, stressing protocols will be followed if proposal is made
- Waukegan has vacant lakefront land available for potential Bears stadium
- Aurora mayor invites Bears to relocate stadium to suburb with 2-page letter
- Richton Park mayor makes pitch for the Bears, touting expressway access and available land
- County commissioner wants the Bears to consider Country Club Hills for stadium
What would happen to Soldier Field without the Bears?
The divorce is far from a foregone conclusion — the Bears have simply taken the next step. If the team leaves Soldier Field, Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry said she hopes the stadium can host many more concerts each year, easing the increasingly controversial burden on neighborhood parks for big musical events such as Riot Fest in Douglass Park and the recently announced Re:SET festival in Riis Park.
Why Arlington Heights?
If the Bears dare to dream big about a new stadium in Arlington Heights, they can find inspiration in SoFi Stadium, the new star attraction of the NFL.
The league’s largest and most expensive arena and the site of the Super Bowl, SoFi, just outside Los Angeles, is overwhelming fans with its sweeping curves and epic scale. The stadium and its development highlight certain parallels to the Bears’ proposal to buy and redevelop Arlington International Racecourse. Both reflect desires to leave century-old stadiums and home cities for vast sites that allow for planned enclaves of surrounding restaurants, hotels, offices, stores and homes.
- Arlington Heights residents favor a Bears stadium — but not tax help, a libertarian poll finds. But the mayor is wary of the questioning.
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- How Arlington Heights hung a welcome sign for Bears
- Arlington International Racecourse: History of one of the ‘world’s most beautiful racetracks’
What are fans saying?
Some fans expressed a draft day-like optimism that better days are ahead. They dreamed openly of shorter concessions, easier parking, better tailgating opportunities and a domed stadium that protected them from biting winter winds.
“I’ve been to multiple stadiums in the NFL and Soldier Field does not compete with any of them,” Bears season ticket holder Neal Shah of Wheaton said. “On game days, the television crews show an aerial view of the stadium, which is beautiful, but the logistics are terrible.”
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- A Bears move to Arlington Heights would be a ‘win-win’ to many. But about that traffic and construction …
