Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren (Getty)
The Chicago Bears reiterated Thursday at a training camp press conference that Hammond, Indiana is their number one choice for a new football stadium.
The team hasn’t indicated which exact site it prefers, but Chairman George McCaskey and president and CEO Kevin Warren said that they’re looking hard at two spots: the Lost Marsh golf course and Wolf Lake Terminals. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. said that he’s hopeful that the Indiana city can have a deal with the Bears as soon as September, when the NFL season kicks off, according to Crain’s.
McCaskey and Warren stated that they’re doing due diligence on the Wolf Lake Terminals, and have completed due diligence on the golf course, but they didn’t set a timeline to make a choice.
Two months ago, Illinois legislators passed on taking action on potential public aid for the Bears’ new stadium proposal in Arlington Heights, leading to team officials publicly stating a preference for an Indiana stadium in June. Warren and McCaskey described conversations with Illinois legislators about a Chicago-area stadium at the Arlington International Racecourse property in the press conference as “minimal.”
The Bears bought the 326-acre Arlington Heights property for $200 million in 2023, and in September 2025, felt confident that they could get a deal done to leave Soldier Field, but stay in Illinois. The plan was to build a $2 billion stadium and surrounding $3 billion mixed-use “stadium village” entertainment district that would require $855 million in public infrastructure funding, according to the team’s management.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker continues to state that he doesn’t believe the Bears actually want to move to Indiana, while Indiana state officials are confident they’ve secured the team. In the press conference, McCaskey purposefully left the door open for discussions to remain in Illinois, but noted that Indiana officials have been proactive in pursuing incentives for the team.
— Hunter Cooke