If the Chicago Bears end up moving to Indiana, the team will not be undergoing any sort of name change. There was some speculation this week that the 106-year-old NFL franchise might change its name to the Indiana Bears if the team decides to move to Hammond, Indiana, but owner George McCaskey shot that down on Thursday.
During a press conference, McCaskey was asked point blank if a name change might happen if the team left Illinois and he responded emphatically.
"We will be the Chicago Bears whether we are in Arlington [Heights] or whether we are in Hammond," McCaskey said.
The Bears called the press conference to talk about the stadium situation. McCaskey was joined Bears CEO Kevin Warren and that was one of several topics that the duo touched on.
Bears solely focused on Indiana
Back in June, the Bears' Board of Directors voted to advance the team's plan to develop a stadium in Hammond, and right now, things seem to be moving forward there. According to Warren, the Bears aren't even really considering Illinois as a viable location anymore.
"Even though we've had occasional meetings with the state of Illinois, our sole focus at this point in time is working on a world-class stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, Indiana," Warren said.
When it comes to the location of the stadium in Hammond, the Bears did offer an interesting update. According to Warren, the team is now considering one of two sites in the Indiana city. When the Bears started looking at Hammond as a possibility for the site of a new stadium, the team was eyeing a location near the Lost Marsh Golf Course. There's also another spot -- known as the Wolf Lake Terminal Site -- that the team is also considering.
"We will make sure that we take our time to get this right," Warren said. "Not only are we building a world-class stadium, we're building a world-class mixed-use development."
The city of Hammond, which sits near the Illinois-Indiana border, is only about 30 miles away from Soldier Field. Once the Bears officially pick a site, the stadium development project will be finally be able to enter its next phase.
"It's reached that point now where we are starting to get some clarity in the moment that we finish our due diligence and have the appropriate capital stack and financing together, we are looking forward to making a decision so we can break ground and get our project going forward," Warren said.
The state of Indiana has been pushing hard to get the Bears to move out of Chicago. The state passed a bill in February that created the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority, which was the first big step in the state's effort to try and lure the Bears away from Illinois. If the Bears move, the Stadium Authority will be in charge of the financing, construction and the lease at the new stadium
At this point, the state of Illinois could still throw a Hail Mary to try and keep the Bears, but that's looking more and more unlikely by the day. Gov. JB Pritzker was asked about the Bears on Thursday and although the state has had some communication with the NFL franchise, it doesn't sound like the two sides have gotten anywhere.
"We've had contact, our staff, their staff, and we're working hard to make sure that there's an opportunity for the Bears to stay in the State of Illinois, whether it's in Chicago or in Arlington Heights," Pritzker said, via WGN. "It's something that I personally, as a Bears fan, want very much. I also want, at the same time, to protect the fans and the taxpayers of the state."
If the Bears were to stay in Illinois, Arlington Heights would be the most viable location. The Bears spent $197 million to buy a 326-acre plot of land in the Illinois suburb a few years ago, and they were eyeing that spot as the location for a possible new stadium, but a tax issue threw a wrench into those plans.
As things stand now, it seems like the Bears will eventually be heading to Indiana, but they will NOT be known as the Indiana Bears. The team's lease at Soldier Field runs through 2033, but the team can buy its way out of the lease, so they could theoretically move as soon as a new stadium gets built, but right now, no one seems to know exactly when that's going to happen.
