The uncertainty about the Chicago Bears’ ousting from their home turf in Chicago to Indiana continues to surge. Chicago lawmakers are fighting to keep the franchise and its fan base, as Deputy Senator Sue Rezin states where they currently stand. 

"I would give it ​a 50-50 chance to have the Bears stay ‌in Illinois," Sen. Rezin said during a legislative update, per Talk Sport.

She made her statement on July 14, five weeks after the franchise’s board approved a development proposal in Hammond, Indiana. The deputy minority leader also shared that lawmakers are working to make an in-state project happen.

The Bears, tenants of Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago, are looking to leave it as the site limits them significantly. Out of all the NFL stadiums, Soldier Field has the smallest seating capacity, and renovations have made the already poor sightlines worse. 

Its open-air design makes hosting big tournaments like the Super Bowl impossible. The Bears have been planning a move because of it and have narrowed it down to two properties. The 326-acre site they own in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and a 340-acre property in Hammond, Indiana, near Wolf Lake.

However, the Arlington Heights proposal is stalled due to a property tax dispute. The franchise bought the property for $197.2 million in 2023, and if the state of Illinois does not provide a solution, they might head to Indiana.

Rezin, however, believes the Bears should stay. She argued for a suburban site, which would facilitate practical development of infrastructure around the stadium. She also reassured that lawmakers are working towards a fix, per the report.  

“It comes down to a legislative fix in Springfield to allow the Bears to be able to invest the kind of money that they want to build out the stadium, whether it's in the suburbs or downtown Chicago,” Rezin said.

Chicago lawmakers are caught in limbo while their counterparts in Indiana eagerly approved the move. However, analysts and economists are questioning how the debt-ridden government will support such a massive project.

Planned taxation to bear the cost of stadium construction in Indiana met with resistence

Lawmakers in Indiana approved spending around $1 billion for the construction of an enclosed stadium in Hammond for the Chicago Bears. The franchise is to chip in $2 billion for the same. 

The bill approving this construction included new taxation policies, which met with resistance from local bodies and residents. They are:

1. A 1% food and beverage tax in Lake and Porter counties that could generate an estimated total of at least $12 million to $18 million 
2. A 5% increase to double Lake County’s hoteliers’ tax could collect at least $5 million annually
3. An admissions tax of 12% of the ticket price for events at the stadium could bring in around $12 million a year 

“With sports facilities, few lawmakers ever ask what’s behind the curtain,” Propheter, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver, told the Chicago Tribune. “They are so in love with what they see that they ignore what they can’t see.” 

Amidst all the rage, the Bears, who have called Soldier Field their home since 1971, are unsure where they will go next. What are your thoughts? 

Read more at the Detroit Lions Community! 

Written by

Akanksha Biradar