CHICAGO URBAN DAILY
CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Forget Hammond — for now. The Bears may be staying in Illinois after all.
The Bears are close to a deal that would keep them in Illinois, according to a report Thursday from Crain’s Chicago Business, with a vote in Springfield possible as soon as November. The most likely site: Arlington Heights, where the team already owns the former Arlington Park property.
It is a sharp turn. Just in August, Bears president Kevin Warren declared a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana, the franchise’s “sole focus,” after Illinois lawmakers failed to advance a stadium bill. Now, Crain’s reports, minority owner Pat Ryan’s recent involvement “has made a big difference,” and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has joined the negotiations with Gov. JB Pritzker.
The framework, as reported, solves the fight that drove the Bears toward Indiana in the first place: taxes. A new law would let a municipality — Chicago included — create an authority to own and operate the stadium. A publicly owned stadium pays no property taxes, giving the Bears the tax certainty they demanded. The authority could also collect additional sales tax from the project, while state taxpayers would be on the hook only for new roads and infrastructure the state usually funds anyway.
Not everyone is buying it. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. dismissed the report, insisting the Bears’ only focus remains Hammond. And Crain’s itself notes the deal is not done, with revisions still to be resolved.
But after months of goodbye talk, the biggest indication yet is that the Bears are not leaving Illinois. The team still holds its Soldier Field lease through the 2033 season — time enough, it turns out, for Springfield to make its move.
Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as the stadium saga moves toward a vote.
Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.
