Bears Advance Hammond Stadium Plan, Escalating the Push Beyond Illinois

The Chicago Bears have taken a major step toward building a new home across the state line. In a statement released Friday, team chairman George H. McCaskey and president and CEO Kevin Warren said the Bears’ board of directors “met and voted to advance” the organization’s stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana, with the “exact site to be selected.” The move does not finalize a relocation, but it strengthens Indiana’s position in a long-running search that has tested the Bears’ patience with Illinois politics and timelines.

The Bears’ stated rationale is rooted in their view of what a new fixed-roof stadium could do for the wider region. They said the Hammond project would “transform the region,” connecting northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs. The emphasis matters because the Bears have framed the stadium as more than a venue, a catalyst for development, employment, and transportation linkages that would expand the franchise’s footprint beyond Soldier Field and the city it has represented for more than a century.

This announcement arrives after the Illinois legislature’s spring session failed to produce the kind of stadium incentives the Bears had been pursuing. The Bears have continued to evaluate both Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana, and they had previously said they expected a decision by late spring or early summer. That expectation has now collided with reality, as the Illinois House adjourned without taking up a Senate-passed measure intended to set up local stadium authorities and help avoid certain property-tax burdens tied to an Illinois stadium plan.

Indiana’s groundwork has also been in place. Earlier this year, Indiana lawmakers approved Senate Bill 27, establishing a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority designed to acquire, construct, finance, and manage facilities within the state framework. The bill took effect July 1, 2026, and it sets out the authority’s powers and duties, including how it would support a stadium project through public financing mechanisms. In the Bears’ narrative, tax certainty is not a slogan, it is a gating item for any shovel-ready timeline.

From the NFL’s perspective, the timetable is increasingly urgent. At the NFL meetings in Arizona, team leadership had described an expected window for choosing a site, and the Bears later reiterated that Chicago options were exhausted, narrowing the field to Arlington Heights and Hammond. The franchise has also said it would not be able to proceed without tax certainty and the right infrastructure conditions. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has publicly emphasized the need for a resolution “relatively soon,” reflecting how closely the league watches the stadium siting process for franchises’ long-term planning.

Still, Thursday’s and Friday’s developments do not mean the Bears are already headed for a new venue with a signed, finished blueprint. Even the Bears’ Hammond language leaves room for variables, including the selection of the exact site and the negotiation details that determine whether Indiana becomes the final commitment or just the most advanced option. For now, the most immediate watch point is whether the Illinois side regains momentum through the November legislative calendar, or whether the Bears and Indiana authorities push the Hammond package forward far enough to make Arlington Heights an increasingly theoretical alternative.