A move of the Bears to Indiana is now “in the red zone,” according to state Gov. Mike Braun, leaning in to the football metaphor.
Speaking at a Valparaiso University event, Braun said an agreement for a $5 billion domed stadium and mixed-use development in suburban Hammond, Indiana, just across the state line from Illinois, is inching ever closer to definitive completion.
“I’ve done so much real estate in my career. Until you ink it, it’s not done,” Braun said. “But it’s moved a long distance in a short period of time because it moved hardly at all for five and a half years [in Illinois].”
Braun’s latest comments arrive as the NFL team remains in a delicate position regarding its long-awaited stadium decision. Most recently, the Bears’ ownership and board of directors formally voted early last month to advance its efforts on the Hammond project.
“One of the things that struck the Bears the most about this whole ordeal is the fact that a Republican governor and a Democratic mayor can work hand in hand and get a job done in a bipartisan manner,” said Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., also appearing at the Valparaiso event.
Back in Illinois
The selection of Hammond arrived four days after the May 31 end of the spring legislative session in Illinois, during which state leaders failed to ratify a bill to help the Bears build the stadium and mixed-use development on team-owned property in Arlington Heights.
Since then, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has suggested the possibility of a special session in Illinois to revisit the stadium issue there, but nothing has solidified. Pritzker, however, has put the onus squarely on the Bears to advance the stadium negotiations to a point where a special session would become viable.
“We don’t want to raise taxes on the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said last month. “We have offered infrastructure support, which is actually most of what the Bears have been asking for. We think we’re as close as anybody to getting a stadium done here. I don’t think Indiana is a whole heck of a lot closer than we are.”
The Bears, for their part, have been publicly silent on the stadium issue since last month’s board vote. Team president and CEO Kevin Warren, however, is scheduled to appear on July 16 at a “Talking Football” event at Chicago’s Gorton Center.
The Indiana stadium plan received political approval in February and is slated to fund about 60% of the stadium cost.
