Could The Chicago Bears REALLY Be About To Move To Indiana?

ESPN Chicago’s Marc Silverman thinks the Bears will give up on Arlington Heights if they don’t get the deal they want.

Aug 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren on the field before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

I don’t know if it’s real or just great PR spin from the Chicago Bears’ side of things. But one thing seems certain: the Bears really want people to know that the Bears-to-Indiana rumors aren’t just for leverage. (Which is exactly what someone using something for leverage would say, but I digress.)

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, the state of Indiana is making a concerted push to coax the Chicago Bears—heavy emphasis on the “Chicago” piece—across the border to more affordable pastures after years of standoff with both Arlington Heights, the original area the Bears were expected to build, and Chicago itself, which wants to keep the team by the lakefront.

The Bears have acknowledged that locations in Northwest Indiana, which are easily drivable from Chicago and may also potentially have access to the South Shore Line, are on the table. But most fans, including myself, don’t actually believe they’re going to do it.

That’s where ESPN Chicago’s Marc “Silvy” Silverman says we’re wrong. There’s more than a nonzero chance the Bears do take their talents to the cornfields of Indiana. (I’m from Northwest Indiana, so I can hate on it all I want.)

“If the Bears are told at the end of February, and they get what they want from the state of Indiana, and they go to Illinois, and Illinois says, 'We need more time,'...they will take their bags and move to Northwest Indiana," Silverman said on ESPN Chicago’s Waddle and Silvy show. 

Apparently, Indiana thinks this is a real possibility, too. They’ve already passed legislation to create a stadium authority to finance and build a new, publicly owned stadium that Indiana would lease to the Bears for the next 35 years at least. Arlington Heights and Illinois, by contrast, have played more hardball with the Bears, not wanting too much taxpayer money to go to a new stadium.

As Silverman points out, the Bears don’t actually want to leave Illinois, either.

“Financially, what this could be is a huge, huge financial deal [building in Indiana]. The other side of it is they prefer the land in Arlington Heights and want to build there … They are willing to spend $2 billion and own their own stadium in Arlington Heights,” he added.

That said, time is of the essence here for the Bears.

For one thing, they want this over and done with soon: to either own their own stadium that they can build and capitalize on for other events, including the Super Bowl; or to pay much less to rent in Indiana. At some point, they just want clarity (and a stadium that can fit more people).

Which brings us to the next part: the Bears are good right now. And they want to capitalize on this moment.

What’s more: things are about to get very interesting financially for the team itself, assuming, as I am, that the Bears will move swiftly to lock up Caleb Williams for a deal that will likely cost around $60 million annually. So you’d really like to have your financials figured out and plan accordingly before you drop $200+ million guaranteed on your franchise guy.

So it’ll be interesting to see if the Bears really are that ready to simply move and have done with it. Because the pressure is on, and Indiana seems ready to pounce.

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