Bear Digest

Stadium at Arlington Heights Gets Boost with Bill Filing and Hearing

Illinois begins to strike back at Indiana on Thursday with a House meeting on the Bears stadium after a bill was filed in committee late Wednesday.
Gene Chamberlain|
The train station next to the property owned by the Bears, part of the reason it's more fan friendly than a Hammond, Ind. site.
The train station next to the property owned by the Bears, part of the reason it's more fan friendly than a Hammond, Ind. site. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Gene Chamberlain

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Apparently, Gov. J.B. Pritzker's statements about progress on legislation for an Arlington Heights Bears stadium represent more than political posturing.

A bill was filed late Wednesday by Illinois legislators providing some of the tax certainty the Bears sought with a stadium at their Arlington International Racecourse property, and also the infrastructure improvement they want.

The Illinois House will hold a 10 a.m. hearing Wednesday on the so-called "mega-project" bill. It isn't entirely what the Bears initially sought. The Bears

were looking for 40 years of tax certainty. Also, according to WGN-TV, the Bears would be required to make a "special payment" to local government.

It's possible for the bill to pass out of the House on Thursday but either way there will be a hearing and that's better than last week when the hearing was postponed. There could also be more coming from Indiana's legislature on Thursday regarding their legislation for funding a Bears stadium project in Hammond. The bill could pass the Senate there and move to Gov. Mike Braun.

It's looking more and more like a case of dualing stadium projects getting close to the finish line, although maybe not in a dead heat. Indiana's legislation is further along.

The Illinois amended bill is sponsored by Rep. Kam Buckner which carries significance. Buckner had been among the Chicago legislators opposed to the Bears leaving Chicago, and there was originally reluctance by the city to let the Bears leave for Arlington Heights. Buckner's name attached to it means better support for the legislation and that could help it pass more rapidly.

On Tuesday, Pritzker made an appearance in Chicago and addressed the legiltion.

“They proposed a few changes over the last couple of weeks,” he added. “There’s been really broad agreement about those. And the leaders of Arlington Heights and the surrounding communities all seem to be on board as well.

“The legislators themselves have to make decisions about this. But I think we’re in a good place with regard to that bill.”

The difference between the Illinois plan and the Indiana plan is the Bears would own the indoor stadium in Arlington Heights on their property while they would lease a stadium built for them and would manage the stadium in Indiana.

If this is truly closing in on passage of an Illinois bill, it could be the culmination of a plan the Bears officially started in 2023 with the Bears' closing on the purchase of the 326-acre Arlington International Racecourse property.

The city made a bid to keep them on the lakefront in a stadium near the current Soldier Field but the funding couldn't be found for it. The Bears will need to pay off their lease at Soldier Field once a stadium is ready. The lease runs through 2033.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.