The Chicago Bears‘ stadium saga has droned on for five years. Still, it hasn’t felt real that the Bears could play anywhere other than Soldier Field, the NFL‘s oldest stadium.
As a Kansas Citian, I can empathize with Bears fans who tell themselves the franchise is bluffing about its threats to move to Indiana. I did it, too. But, ultimately, the Kansas City Chiefs announced their official plan last December to depart Arrowhead Stadium for a to-be-built billion-dollar dome in Kansas.
The Bears are destined for a similar fate.
“The Chicago Bears have exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago, which was our initial goal,” the Bears said in a statement Thursday, per the Associated Press. “There is not a viable site in the city. As a result, the only sites under consideration are in Arlington Heights and Hammond.”
About two months ago, Bears CEO and president Kevin Warren joined “Pro Football Talk” at the NFL’s annual league meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, and spoke briefly about the team’s stadium conundrum.
“We have the legislation passed in Indiana, and they’ve been a great partner to work with,” Warren said. “We are going through legitimate due diligence because we [are] working through traffic and construction items and transportation items now. It’s progressing right on pace. Illinois, as you said, they’re still working on legislation.”
Warren continued, “We have a wonderful piece of land in Arlington Heights, 326 acres, and so we don’t have a set deadline, but I am confident that sometime this spring-slash-summer, we’ll know. I mean, we have to know.”
The Bears purchased a 326-acre Arlington Heights, Illinois, plot for $197.2 million in February 2023. Arlington Heights is roughly 40 minutes north of Soldier Field in downtown Chicago. Hammond, Indiana, is roughly 30 minutes south.