Overview
- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday he recently met with Illinois officials and wants Arlington Heights to have the chance to "put their best foot forward," keeping Illinois publicly in the running.
- The Bears’ board has publicly advanced a Hammond, Indiana plan and pledged roughly $2 billion in private investment while the team conducts near-daily due diligence on two Hammond sites.
- Illinois efforts to create taxpayer incentives for an Arlington Heights build have stalled and a key bill never reached a floor vote, with Governor J.B. Pritzker opposed to large public subsidies.
- Indiana has set up a stadium authority and offered nearly $1 billion in infrastructure support to attract the team, and state and city officials have been in regular talks with Bears leadership.
- No contract has been signed and no construction has begun; the next milestones are completed site studies, a finalized financing plan and formal approvals that will determine where the Bears build.