Chicago Bears Advance Hammond Stadium Bid With $600 Million Infrastructure Plan

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 20

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said the Bears are now seriously weighing a move to Indiana, with talks in the “red zone” after the team announced in June it was advancing stadium plans there.
Indiana’s pitch centers on tax certainty: property-tax caps of 1%, 2% or 3% are embedded in the state constitution, a structure McDermott said the Bears cannot secure in Illinois.
Hammond has assembled about 300 acres for potential stadium sites, and state officials have already built in $600 million for surrounding highway and road upgrades.
McDermott said the process felt real when a large local company was contacted about a possible state land acquisition, underscoring that this effort had moved beyond the Bears’ failed 1990s Indiana flirtation.
The Bears still play at Soldier Field under a lease through 2033, though they can exit early for a fee, leaving chairman George McCaskey and president Kevin Warren to decide whether to invest billions across state lines.