{"id":763824,"date":"2026-02-20T04:42:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763824\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T04:42:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:42:32","slug":"indiana-makes-big-move-for-bears-to-move-into-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763824\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana makes big move for Bears to move into state"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bears ditching the Windy City in favor of Indiana is becoming a serious endeavor.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers in the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved an amendment to a bill which clears a path for the Bears to build a stadium in Northwest Indiana.<\/p>\n

Indiana State Bill 27 was approved with a 24-0 vote on Thursday and would create the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority, which would have the power to acquire land, issue bonds, and finance construction for the potential stadium.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoA Chicago Bears helmet sits on the field prior to a game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

The proposed site for the stadium is in Hammond, Indiana, which is roughly 30 minutes from Downtown Chicago and borders the state of Illinois.<\/p>\n

The Bears said in a statement that the bill\u2019s passage marks \u201cthe most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana,\u201d the team\u2019s statement read, per NBC 5 Chicago<\/a>. \u201cWe appreciate the leadership shown by Governor Braun, Speaker Huston, Senator Mishler and members of the Indiana General Assembly in establishing this critical framework and path forward to deliver a premier venue for all of Chicagoland and a destination for Bears fans and visitors from across the globe. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe value our partnership and look forward to continuing to build our working relationship together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SoldierA general view of the exterior of Soldier Field before the Bears\u2019 loss to the Rams in the NFC divisional round on Jan. 18, 2026 in Chicago. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ahead of the vote, Indiana governor Mike Braun echoed his state\u2019s desire for the Bears\u2019 potential move, saying that it would be a \u201chuge win for all Hoosiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe State of Indiana moves at the speed of business, and we\u2019ve demonstrated that through our quick coordination between state agencies, local government, and the legislature to set the stage for a huge win for all Hoosiers,\u201d Braun posted to X Thursday<\/a>. \u201cWe have built a strong relationship with the Bears organization that will serve as the foundation for a public-private partnership, leading to the construction of a world-class stadium and a win for taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

This comes after the Bears<\/a> were seeking legislation in Illinois which would allow them to negotiate tax payments with local governments rather than paying full property taxes on a hypothetical new stadium.<\/p>\n

The Bears have announced that they would invest $2 billion into a stadium\u2019s construction but requested roughly an additional $850 million in state funding for \u201cessential local infrastructure\u201d around the property in Arlington Heights, Illinois the team bought back in 2023 for $197.2 million.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s current lease at Soldier Field, which is owned by the city of Chicago, runs through 2033. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bears ditching the Windy City in favor of Indiana is becoming a serious endeavor. Lawmakers in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[692,391,7,932,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-763824","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-chicago-bears","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indiana","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116101132842474832","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763824","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=763824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}