The Chicago Bears are no closer to a new home after the Illinois General Assembly ended its spring session without a stadium deal — and Hammond, Indiana, expects to know by June 30 whether the franchise is headed across the state line.
Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott said the Bears’ leadership is meeting internally and should deliver a yes-or-no answer by the end of the month. For now, he said, Indiana’s is the only offer on the table.
“If they do say no, then they get to go back and deal with Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson and that whole mess in the legislature by themselves,” McDermott said.
That mess played out over the weekend in Springfield, where lawmakers adjourned around 4:30 a.m. Monday with nothing passed. Illinois broadcaster Patrick Pfingsten said the Bears have feuded with state officials for years, having bought the old Arlington Park site in Arlington Heights back in 2022 but made little progress there. Gov. JB Pritzker has refused to spend public dollars building a stadium, citing polling against subsidies, while signaling openness to infrastructure already in the state’s capital plan.
Tensions spiked when the Bears unveiled a lakefront plan with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, seeking some $2 billion in infrastructure to tear down Soldier Field and build new ramps off Lake Shore Drive — without consulting the governor or legislative leaders first, Pfingsten said. A late property-tax proposal drew progressive objections to a break for a multibillion-dollar franchise. A revised plan to have the Bears build privately and operate tax-exempt passed the Senate around 3 a.m.; the House declined to take it up, saying it had no time to read or vet the bill, and the session ended.
Indiana’s package, McDermott said, runs $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion, including roughly $700 million in infrastructure. The Bears would build the stadium and lease it for 35 years, with ticket, parking, and concert revenue paying down public debt — a structure McDermott likened to the deal that landed the Colts in Indianapolis. The proposed Lost Marsh/Wolf Lake site sits 20 to 25 minutes from downtown Chicago, with potential rail and boat access via the Hammond Marina.
McDermott estimated about 75 percent of Hammond residents support the bid, even as critics call stadium deals giveaways to wealthy owners. He said the full project could reach $5 billion to $6 billion, roughly doubling the city’s assessed value, and generate thousands of jobs across Northwest Indiana. Hammond, he added, would rebrand around the team — colors, logos, and water towers declaring it the “home of the Chicago Bears.”
Pfingsten cautioned that skepticism runs deep in Illinois, where some lawmakers believe the Bears are bluffing and using Indiana as leverage. Reports that the team has quietly kept talking with the City of Chicago have only deepened the distrust.
Saturday’s Democratic Convention
McDermott also looked ahead to Saturday’s Indiana Democratic Party convention, where delegates choose a Secretary of State nominee. He called Beau Bayh the favorite over Blythe Potter, citing Bayh’s $2 million-plus war chest and institutional backing while praising Potter’s persistence. Democrats, he said, view GOP incumbent Diego Morales as the most beatable general-election opponent and quietly hope he survives his own convention. McDermott also welcomed former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s independent “Lincoln Party” bid, saying voters could use more choices.
