The National Football League (NFL) team Chicago Bears could soon be moving to Indiana (US) after the team’s Board of Directors voted to advance a stadium project in Hammond (city in Indiana).
The Coliseum Summit US will be held at the Wrigley Field in Chicago from August 26th-27th, 2026.
‘fox59.com’ stated that on Chicago’s Southeast Side the possibility of a new stadium just across the State line has the fans and the business owners excited about what it could mean for the area.
Stadium Saga
The stadium project saga has been in the making for nearly five years. In September 2021, the Bears announced that they were purchasing a 326-acre plot of land at Arlington Park. It was finalized in 2023.
However, the following year, Warren and Company held a presser on the lakefront and announced they were pivoting to building a new stadium on the lake in Chicago.
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago (US). The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division.
The 62,500-seat Soldier Field (historically often referred to as the Soldiers’ Field) is a multipurpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924, the stadium has served as the home of the National Football League (NFL) team Chicago Bears since 1971.
Eager Fans
Mike Carroll, Owner of Crow Bar on East 106th Street, said he and his regulars are eager to see the project move forward – “All the die-hard fans come out. We’re pumped to watch the Bears. We have the best fans around on the South Side. I won’t believe it ‘til they’re digging but we’re excited. We’re the closest place to the stadium. It would be awesome for us.”
‘fox59.com’ further stated that Carroll is already imagining ways the stadium could bring in new customers – “We could buy a school bus. I got a bunch of artists that can paint it and maybe do like a food deal. Pay $30, get free food before the game, have drinks, then take a shuttle to the game right there.”
Alderman Peter Chico (10th Ward) said a move to Hammond could bring more traffic through the Southeast Side with the visitors stopping at the local restaurants and businesses before and after the games – “I share the border of Indiana, State Line Road. We’re a nice bike ride away. You could even walk there, to be honest, from some homes in the 10th Ward.”
He also said the area could benefit from additional development, including new hotels if the Chicago Bears ultimately relocate to Hammond.
The Southeast Side has been working to rebuild following the closure of the multiple steel mills in the 1980s and early 2000s which led to the loss of many businesses.
Added Chico, “There’s a lot going on in the 10th Ward from the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park to right outside the 7th Ward, a new hospital we just broke ground on last week. So, if this were to happen, it would just add to the rebuilding of our community.”
At a City Council meeting the Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott addressed the Chicago Bears announcement saying it’s “like hitting the lotto. A lot of people in Chicago are criticizing what they thought was a vague wording. I’m not criticizing it. I know why it was vague – “I can’t talk about that right now but the Bears are coming to Hammond, Indiana. I want you to know that.”
Retaining Bears
Meanwhile, some lawmakers in the State of Illinois aren’t ready to give up on the team.
Representative Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, plans to unveil legislation designed to try to keep the Bears in Illinois – a plan that includes lowering the property taxes for the Illinois residents.
Life Sans Bears
But the others are already looking ahead to the possibility of life without the Bears.
On June 8th, the Chicago Group, a coalition of community leaders, business owners and faith leaders, sent a letter to the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking whether Chicago could be considered for an expansion team if the Bears leave Illinois.
Luring Bears
In 2025, the State of Indiana got involved and passed a Bill to create a Stadium Commission to potentially lure the Bears to Indiana. Hammond, Gary and Portage presented plans.
The Bears signaled that they were not interested in Chicago and, in a statement, said Arlington Heights and Hammond remained the only two viable sites moving forward.
To counter the deal Indiana presented as pressure ratcheted up on Illinois politicians in Springfield, the Illinois House passed a megaprojects Bill. However, it did not have enough votes to pass through the Illinois Senate. The Senate responded with an 11th-hour bill proposal that would allow the cities in Cook County with a population over 70,000 to create their own stadium authority to help build and finance the stadiums.
While the Senate passed that Bill by a 37-17 vote it didn’t happen until early June 8th morning, hours after the May 31st spring legislative session deadline had passed. The House declined to take up a vote at that late hour so the Illinois lawmakers left Springfield with no deal on the table for a Bears stadium.
Riding High
The Indiana officials have been riding high in recent days after the Bears announced they were making a Northwestern Indiana site a priority for their stadium negotiations. That news came just days after the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass a legislation aimed at keeping the Bears in the State though there is still a chance the project could be revisited down the road.
World-class Stadium
A joint statement from the Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey and President and head honcho Kevin Warren read, “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 the neighborhoods and suburbs stretching North of the city. It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and the businesses.”
Indiana Bill
The Indiana lawmakers earlier this year passed a Bill that would offer the Bears approximately $1 billion in incentives to convince them to leave Chicago after more than 100 years as the city’s NFL team. The money to finance the construction bonds would come from a series of new tax levies surrounding the proposed sites in Indiana.
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