Bears to Meet With NFL as Governor Claims Credit for Stadium Bill

The Bears enter a big week in quest of an Arlington Heights stadium hearing now how Gov. J.B. Pritzker has saved the day.

During an appearance on CNN, Pritzker claimed responsibility for the entire deal that is part of the Megaproject bill now entering the Senate committee phase after passing through the House last week. The bill had flaws from the Bears' standpoint and there still is no guarantee they'd take it rather than accept a better deal to move to Indiana—although it's very apparent they want to stay in Illinois.

The Bears are supposed to meet with the NFL's stadium committee later this week. They stand to receive league funds to supplement the money they are putting in themselves to build a domed stadium on their own land at the old Arlington Park racetrack. It's unlikely the league is going to dictate to them that they must move to Indiana, but the opportunity to do it has been there all along and the McCaskeys have avoided it while waiting on a stadium deal in Illinois.

"Look, the Bears are a private business that's worth $9 billion dollars owned by a billionaire family," Pritzker said on CNN. "They're tying to make decisions about their future. We ought to keep them. They ought to stay in the state of Illinois and I have actually put forward a deal that they're willing to accept that has now passed the (Illinois) House of Representatives and is now going to go to the Senate. So, I think we have a real chance of them staying in Illinois.

If the Bears move to IN, that just means you and your cronies drove them out of the state! Ya guys literally have been dickin round with them the past 3 years!
— G-12enz (@Renegadesx312) April 27, 2026

"I think that's where they want to be and I think that their fans, including me, will be very upset if they try to get up and move across the border and become, I don't know, the Hammond Hams I guess we'll call them."

No. 1, they would still be the Chicago Bears because Hammond is a closer suburb to Chicago than Arlington Heights. No one is calling them the Arlington Artichokes—we'll use food here for a nickname since that’s what Pritzker fell back on.

Second, Pritzker is hogging the glory and spiking the ball by saying it was his deal, when it was a real team effort and not his bill at all. This was hammered out with compromise, negotiation, angst on the part of everyone, and not a bill the governor himself created.

In fact, if it wasn't for how he initially dilly-dallied and backed the Chicago group seeking to trap the Bears in Soldier Field, or in some other similar, nonsensical, traffic jam on the lakefront, then the Bears could have already worked this all out.

The possibility of leaving the state would never have occurred.

It's more like Pritkzer is taking credit for fixing a mess he helped create.

Indiana's entry was fault of Illinois politicians

Pritzker kept wasting time and bringing up how the state wasn't about to pay for the Bears' stadium when it was obvious, and stated a billion times, that they were paying for their own stadium and only wanted help with infrastructure like is customarily given to job-creating industries.

Billionaire J.B. Pritzker Benefited From Tax Breaks, But He Doesn’t Think The Chicago Bears Should https://t.co/D5bmkIfai6 pic.twitter.com/a7rFurJaL8
— Forbes SportsMoney (@ForbesSports) February 17, 2023

Pritzker wanted to play politics and so did Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and the end result was Indiana took the initiative that Illinois didn't, while its governor and Chicago' Johnson plodded along, worrying about the primary election and not helping business.

Suddenly, with the primary over and with Indiana already executing its plan for the move, Pritzker finally decided to play ball with the Bears and so did some of Chicago's Democrats.

The bill the House passed is nothing like the one initially worked out, and there are reasons to think the team might not even want to stay in state as a result.

The main reason to think they'll get it worked out and accept it is their own desire to stay in state has already been great enough to keep them from easily walking over the border, holding a press conference, and saying they'd begin building in Hammond later this year.

Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D) has won acclaim from progressives for his stance toward professional sports venues — Listen to his recent response to a Chicago Bears proposal that would devote $2.3B in taxpayer money to a new football stadium. pic.twitter.com/9DPIztiOFD
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) May 9, 2024

As for Pritzker and other Illinois politicians, instead of taking credit they should be accepting this as a lesson in what can happen if you play political games instead of doing your job, which is to keep business and jobs for others in this state.

There should be no spiking of that football for Pritzker, just a mopping of the brow to know he no longer will be the clown who caused a 105-year-old, beloved, business and cultural landmark to leave for the state next door.

That is, if the Bears actually do decide they can live with this Megaproject bill which provides tax certainty they're seeking but also now costs they never initially planned on accepting.

Under J. B. Pritzker, Illinois isn’t just struggling to keep companies.

Now we’re at the point where even the Chicago Bears might not see their future here.

Let’s dive into what’s been happening.
A thread 🧵👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/yMfxLc5Hiy
— American Patriot (@APBear76) April 28, 2026

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