Bears Pivot to Suburbs As $4.7B Downtown Stadium Plans Dim

The roller coaster that is the Bears stadium saga continues to take twists and turns, seemingly with no end in sight.

Roughly 13 months after the NFL franchise introduced lavish plans to build a $4.7 billion indoor venue on the downtown Chicago lakefront, the Bears have now seemingly abandoned the effort. Instead, the team said it is focusing on building a new stadium on the 326 acres it owns at the site of an old horse racing track in suburban Arlington Heights.

“Over the last few months, we have made significant progress with the leaders in Arlington Heights, and look forward to continuing to work with state and local leaders on making a transformative economic development project for the region a reality,” the Bears said in a statement late last week.

Finding the funds for a downtown dome was an issue from the moment the Bears announced those plans in April 2024, and funding for a stadium in Arlington Heights will likely be no easier. 

At the NFL owners meetings in April, Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren said the focus for building a stadium was on downtown Chicago as well as Arlington Heights, which was a shift from the team’s previous stance of solely focusing on the downtown location.

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The Bears’ inability to strike a solid stadium deal comes as the Commanders move forward with a newly announced $3.8 billion dome project in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe said last week that he will call a special legislative session to discuss potential public funding for a major renovation of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium and a new ballpark for the Royals. Last month, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the team would decide on its stadium future by this summer.

Also last week, the Browns said they would move forward with their plans to build a $2 billion dome in Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb, even if they don’t receive funding from Cuyahoga County.