More Signs Emerge That Bears' New Stadium Will be in Indiana

If you're one of the millions of Chicago Bears fans who are hoping that the team remains in Illinois, Thursday morning's news from the Illinois state legislature will come like a gut punch. According to Bears insider Adam Hoge, the Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee had a meeting planned for 8:00 am today, regarding a stadium development plan for the Bears. That meeting was abruptly cancelled. In fact, the bill that had been advanced to help fund a stadium wasn't even going to be called on.

Adding insult to injury, the state lawmakers of Indiana are meeting right now, as of this writing, to review their proposal to help the Bears build a stadium in Northwest Indiana, and the belief is that it will be speedily approved. Indiana has been aggressive in their plan to pull the Bears across the border, and things indeed appear to be heading in that direction.

HAPPENING NOW: Indiana lawmakers meeting to review financial details of proposal for #Bears to build new stadium in Northwest Indiana.

WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/HKwM9cSWVw
— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) February 19, 2026

Bears issue statement that supports Indiana's bid for their new stadium

As this is all ongoing, Indiana state governor Mike Braun's official X account posted another strong push for the Bears to build in Indiana, just the latest in a series of moves that show Indiana greasing the skids for the Bears to make a move while Illinois continues to put roadblocks in front of them. The Bears have also released a statement this morning affirming their willingness to leave the state, which was shared by NFL insider Ian Rapoport to his X account.

Statement from the #Bears: https://t.co/Ux3zTTgYXN pic.twitter.com/uslKm6YW68
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 19, 2026

An embarrassment to everyone involved

A week ago, when the state of Iowa announced that it would draw up a plan for the Bears to build a stadium in their state, it looked like the Bears' stadium chaos couldn't get any messier. It didn't take long for this debacle to sling even more mud all over the room. The way this issue has drawn on should be a professional embarrassment to everyone who has a hand in it, but especially the Illinois legislature.

No other team in the NFL has this much trouble trying to build a new stadium. The Buffalo Bills announced their intent to build a new home back in June of 2023, and that stadium is expected to be ready for the 2026 season. Mind you, that announcement came months after the Bears' purchase of a 326-acre Arlington Park property.

Wherever the stadium gets built, the Bears need to make sure they get shovels in the ground as soon as possible and end this humiliating farce. If it's going to be Indiana, and that's the way it's looking, then they need to commit and make it happen. Leaving Illinois would likely come across as a slap in the face to the fans, but at the end of the day, those fans deserve a state-of-the-art stadium for their favorite team. Whether that's in Illinois or a stone's throw across the Indiana border is, frankly, irrelevant.