Bears Shift Primary Stadium Effort to Hammond, Indiana

Indiana’s proposed incentive package and Illinois’s lack of long-term property-tax certainty are driving the team to pursue two Wolf Lake sites while it completes technical and financial reviews.

Overview

The Bears' board voted on June 5 to advance a stadium project in Hammond and team leaders say their sole focus is on bringing that plan forward.
Indiana lawmakers have proposed up to $1 billion in public incentives and the Bears have pledged about $2 billion in private funding for a domed, mixed-use complex.
The team is conducting environmental, topographic and financial due diligence on two Wolf Lake-area parcels; Lost Marsh has been reviewed and Wolf Lake Terminal is undergoing further testing.
Stadium experts and former Bears figures blame Illinois political gridlock and the legislature’s failure to offer long-term property-tax certainty for stalling the Arlington Heights plan that preceded the Hammond option.
No contracts or final approvals exist yet, and the sites still face environmental, tax and permitting hurdles while the outcome could change where fans travel and where jobs and tax revenue land in the region.