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Calm down (Updated)
Thursday, Feb 19, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * From what I’ve gathered so far, this is just not true…
I’m told the Bears committed to doing some due diligence on that project, but Indiana politicos love being anti-Illinois trolls. Notice that there’s no finality in this statement, and the Indy governor confirms that the team has only committed to due diligence on this site. Nothing further…
Same from the Bears. Nothing definitive…  * This is also false. Rep. Tarver, I’m told by the House Democrats, is in town…
* A decision was made last night to postpone today’s hearing because Rep. Canty’s House Bill 2789 isn’t the same as the legislation the governor has been negotiating. That’s it. They need an amendment. This statement is being disputed somewhat, but the bottom line is that the sportscasters are getting out over their skis…
Patience. …Adding… On background, the House Democrats back up the governor’s office claim that the Bears requested a hearing postponement. The leaders are now waiting to hear from Bears leadership this morning. Also, Tarver could be gone, but that happened after the hearing was canceled.
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- Save Ferris - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:05 am:
LOL. The $2 billion is the same they committed to in AH. It’s the amount they can borrow ($800 million NFL standard debt cap) plus another $1.2 billion in debt (assuming the NFL approves an overage for them which is likely).
Nothing has changed.
- Remember the Alamo II - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:07 am:
Sports talk radio and television programs have evolved over the years to mirror the cable news networks like CNN and Fox News. They need to stir up controversy in order to maintain listeners and viewers of their infotainment programming. They need to stay in their own lane.
- Not Again - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:08 am:
Bears truly can screw up everything. This extends their self-inflicted stupidity streak to 4 years. If they thought this strategy was a good idea, its time for changes at the top of that organization.
- Leap Day William - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:11 am:
I’m not believing a thing until I see shovels in the ground, and even then I’ll remain skeptical until kickoff of the first game in whatever stadium gets built.
- Annon'in - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:13 am:
All pretty funny stuff. Happy the team had a decent season. Still waitin’ for details on full payments for their remodel of Soldiers Field, how much empty office space is with 2-3 miles of their AH MegaProject and how much they will pay for destroyin’ horse racing.
- Scoot - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:13 am:
Ah the drama…I’m going to predict this ends with an exciting twist just like several of the bears come from behind wins this season. I’m saying the bears will build on the Michael Reese site and remain on the city’s lakefront! Beardown!
- Think Again - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:22 am:
=Drama=
Bears are rightly playing the leverage game as the clock ticks down - Illinois legislators should be used to that tactic. Hoping for a new stadium in AH, but since I’m lucky to get to one game every few years, I wouldn’t mind the drive to NW Indy.
- Jocko - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:24 am:
==Bears will commit $2 billion to a stadium project==
Lemme guess. Is it a pledge, a promise, handshake, or pinky swear? Ask AH what a bears commitment is worth.
- Alton Sinkhole - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:24 am:
Gotta love the journalist sneaking in whining about having to go to Springfield. It’s your job, ma’am.
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:27 am:
Sports yappers don’t know much about football itself let alone politics. A few months ago Hoge and his partner held a big Breaking News Podcast! so a nameless fired Bears coach could launder his Caleb Williams character assassination through Hoge & Jahns to excuse his incompetence and justify his failures in light of the new coaching staff being demonstrably more competent.
It’s like watching toddlers try to talk current events.
- Steve - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:28 am:
-I’m saying the bears will build on the Michael Reese -
Good luck with that one and I say this as someone who was born at Michael Reese.
- Northsider - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:32 am:
I heard David Haugh this morning practically soil himself over this on The Score and. Being a CapFax Blog reader, I figured it was something procedural like this. Calm down, indeed.
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:33 am:
To refresh everyone’s memory, NWI also called The Region is referred to as the Armpit of the Nation.
So the Bears leave Illinois and the lakefront to relocate to a toxic, polluted wasteland. Enjoy the smokestacks, folks.
- New Day - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:36 am:
Calm down indeed. So much hysteria at this point. Everyone seems to want to write the Illinois screwed this up story but it’s not true and it’s not even clear how this ends. My money remains with the Bears staying.
- Emanuel Collective - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:37 am:
Don’t disagree that many of these reports are overreactions; however, the Sun-Times’s story quotes “A Bears spokesman said “Hammond is the site we are focused on. Work to be done.”
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:40 am:
===however, the Sun-Times’s story quotes “A Bears spokesman===
Yeah, well, I ain’t buying it yet. There’s more going on here.
- The Farm Grad - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:42 am:
Candlestick Park to Levi’s Stadium: 30 miles.
Still the San Francisco 49ers.
Soldier Field to Hammaond: 20 miles.
Still the Chicago Bears.
And if the new stadium were to host a SB, 90% of the visitors would still stay in downtown Chicago
Upshot: Illinois taxpayers would be better off if the Bears moved to Hammond
- Homebody - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:53 am:
Meanwhile, Ian Rappaport is tweeting/blueskying (what do we call a bluesky tweet? A bleet? A skeet?) breathlessly reporting Bears propaganda, causing a mild panic on the r/nfl subreddit.
The more I have learned about the functioning of state governments over the past few decades, the more I’ve realized how bad national writers in any industry are bad at understanding or communicating about local issues.
- B - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:54 am:
If the bears move I and many other people I know will stop being fans.
The money the bears are after is in the north amd nw suburbs. Many of them will choose not to travel to a broken down polluted waste land. The inhabitants of this wasteland are not wealthy and will not be buying up those suites.
The bears are stupid, but are they really this stupid? Not to mention being so far away from the major airports.
- hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:55 am:
The Bears announcing they are jacking up season ticket prices 13.5% told me everything I needed to know. The McCaskeys are greedheads and they will go to whatever stadium location is going to line their pockets the most and that is Indiana. Maybe Virginia cared about the Bears being the pride and joy of Illinois but this generation? Nope. Her being dead allowed the younger family members to sell out tradition for cash. They should change the jerseys to say G$H.
I think the Bears had already decided to move to Indiana last fall and lied to Illinois politicians and the public that staying in Illinois was being considered as leverage to squeeze more money out of Indiana.
With the Indiana vote and Illinois GA hearing being cancelled at the behest of the Bears, Kevin Warren orchestrated his revenge on Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly he so harshly criticized in his initial statement about Indiana being in the mix for the stadium. And he implemented such revenge in the middle of voting season. Did not know he had it in him to navigate the politics do deftly but he was way more shrewd than I ever gave him credit for.
- Skeptic - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 10:57 am:
“NWI also called The Region is referred to as the Armpit of the Nation.” Having lived there for what was actually a year but seemed like a decade, I can agree with this. A nice cool breeze off the lake brings with it the fresh aroma of industry. And don’t forget the lake effect snow.
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 11:04 am:
Let’s see how it all plays out. But I still think they end up in AH…
- 48th Ward Heel - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 11:06 am:
“We want to be where our ticketholders are, and our research has determined that’s the Northwest Suburbs.”
*goes off in the opposite direction*
“We want to own our stadium grounds, and so we’ve bought this large parcel.”
*negotiates for a leased property*
“This site needs serious infrastructure upgrades, and we don’t want to pay for that.”
*selects site on a marsh*
This very well may be just another installment of The Bear Who Cried Wolf, but honestly at this point I feel nothing either way. Bye [banned punctuation]
- Proud Papa Bear - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 11:17 am:
For those trying to keep track, the order has been:
Arlington Heights
Chicago
Arlington Heights
Indiana
Arlington Heights
Indiana
- Former Downstater - Thursday, Feb 19, 26 @ 11:38 am:
I don’t think either side (Bears or Indiana) plan on actually having the Bears build a stadium in Indiana.
Instead, the Bears are using it for leverage, as many have said. Indiana, on the other hand, is using it as an opportunity to sell themselves to teams who might be interested in relocating.
The bill after all is a “framework to build a sports stadium in the area.” Nothing says that framework has to be to build a stadium for the Bears.
What is also true is Chicago is largest city without two NFL teams. The idea of having a second team in the Chicago market could thus be enticing to a team looking to relocate.