3<\/p>\n Soldier Field is the oldest stadium in the NFLCredit: Getty<\/p>\n A $5 billion project<\/a> to redevelop the former Arlington International Racecourse into a domed arena and mixed-use development has hit a snag as local lawmakers debate the contribution of public money.<\/p>\n Bears CEO Kevin Warren wrote a critical open letter to fans, claiming the Illinois Legislature wouldn’t make the team a priority in 2026 and opening the door to a relocation across state lines.<\/p>\n The city of Gary, Indiana, has rolled out the welcome mat and state representatives are putting wheels in motion.<\/a><\/p>\n A unanimous committee vote sent a bill allowing the financing of a stadium to the Senate floor.<\/p>\n talkSPORT’s NFL Rankings<\/p>\n Governor Mike Braun declared that the Hoosier State, which is riding high after winning a national championship, <\/a>is \u201cin play.”<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal is just to keep being in play as the whole thing unfurls,\u201d Braun told the IBJ<\/a>. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s more than just kicking the tires to create a bargaining position.<\/p>\n \u201cBut take nothing for granted. We won\u2019t get ahead of our skis, but we\u2019ll certainly be timely on all the things we need to do to be in a position to take advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Senate Bill 27 would create the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority — an entity that could buy land and enter into leases with NFL<\/a> teams, as well as boasting the ability to issue 40-year bonds.<\/p>\n The state would own the stadium, which could prove a sticking point for the Bears as owners were keen to ensure the franchise controlled its own home for the first time in history.<\/p>\n That was part of the reason for leaving Soldier Field and the iconic lakefront location.<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n The Bears have toured sites in two statesCredit: Getty 3<\/p>\n Fans could be sad to leave the iconic skyline behindCredit: Getty<\/p>\n \u201cThere is movement, OK\u2013you see the bill. We wouldn\u2019t be doing that unless we thought that was necessary and timely,\u201d Braun explained. \u201cAnd I would hope that something more concrete develops here within 10 days to couple weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n House Speaker Todd Huston wants a firm commitment from the Bears before anything lands on the governor\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n \u201cI think if we\u2019re going to move this legislation, [it] would be with a commitment that when we passed it, the deal is done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Indiana’s push has spurred Illinois officials into action.<\/p>\n The Bears are happy to finance the stadium, but were keen for help with the surrounding infrastructure upgrades.<\/p>\n There is still plenty of work to be done, and those at the forefront of the Illinois bid are bullish.<\/p>\n NFL Championship Games LIVE on talkSPORT 2<\/p>\n Ahead of talkSPORT’s live coverage of Super Bowl LX<\/a>, talkSPORT 2 will also have full commentary of both Conference Championship Games this weekend.<\/p>\n AFC Championship Game<\/p>\n New England Patriots\u00a0@\u00a0Denver Broncos – Sunday, January 25, 3pm EST (8pm GMT)<\/p>\n NFC Championship Game<\/p>\n Los Angeles Rams @ Seattle Seahawks – Sunday, January 25, 6:30pm EST (11:30pm GMT)<\/p>\n To tune in to talkSPORT 2 through the website,\u00a0click HERE for the live stream<\/a>\u00a0or find us on DAB digital radio through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.<\/p>\n Download and listen to all our live commentaries via the\u00a0talkSPORT app here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Visit talkSPORT BET<\/a>\u00a0for all the latest odds and bet boosts for every big event.<\/p>\n Subscribe to our\u00a0YouTube channel here<\/a>\u00a0for news, views and analysis plus our regular goals show and for more, follow us on\u00a0talkSPORT Facebook\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0talkSPORT X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many that still think \u2026 it\u2019s only a bargaining posture from the Bears,\u201d Braun said. \u201cI think that that\u2019s one opinion.<\/p>\n “I think the Bears have been working on it for a long time and tried to get it to where it would have worked out staying in Illinois, in Chicago. But I think they were looking elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Chicago Bears take control of NFC North<\/p>\n The Bears enjoyed a significant upturn on the field in 2025 in Ben Johnson’s debut as a head coach.<\/p>\n Caleb Williams is starting to look like a franchise quarterback<\/a> and caught the eye with a ridiculous throw under extreme pressure in a Divisional Round defeat to the Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n Winning the NFC North was a huge milestone, as was a Wild Card victory over the Green Bay Packers<\/a> in what had been one of the NFL’s most lopsided rivalries in recent years.<\/p>\n Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n The race for Super Bowl LX<\/a>, which can watch here<\/a>, is over and work now begins to ensure the team the christens the new stadium, wherever it may be, is worthy of the outlay.<\/p>\n Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page<\/a> and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel <\/a>for news, exclusive interviews and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bears want to be in their new home by 2029 and the clock is ticking. Building…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2070],"tags":[102431,10654,374,102432,102435,102428,70697,26601,98610,102430,1035,1036,692,391,102437,102438,102436,7242,2493,422,7,102429,345,98230,102433,102434,58,32,19547,98231,6,835,1902,3307,10661],"class_list":{"0":"post-703846","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-are-the-bears-moving","9":"tag-arlington-heights","10":"tag-bears","11":"tag-bears-game-time","12":"tag-bears-indiana","13":"tag-bears-moving","14":"tag-bears-new-stadium","15":"tag-bears-news","16":"tag-bears-rams","17":"tag-bears-relocating","18":"tag-ben-johnson","19":"tag-caleb-williams","20":"tag-chicago","21":"tag-chicago-bears","22":"tag-chicago-bears-arlington-heights","23":"tag-chicago-bears-gary-indiana","24":"tag-chicago-bears-soldier-field","25":"tag-chicago-bears-stadium","26":"tag-chicagobears","27":"tag-divisional-round","28":"tag-football","29":"tag-governor-j-b-prtizker","30":"tag-green-bay-packers","31":"tag-indiana-bears","32":"tag-indiana-governor","33":"tag-jb-prtizker","34":"tag-los-angeles-rams","35":"tag-matthew-stafford","36":"tag-mayor-brandon-johnson","37":"tag-mike-braun","38":"tag-nfl","39":"tag-nfl-news","40":"tag-roger-goodell","41":"tag-sean-mcvay","42":"tag-soldier-field"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Soldier](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/general-view-soldier-field-prior-1052457255.jpg\")
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