Bears’ ownership has two stadium options.
A note to Illinois politicians from the National Footnall League Commissioner Roger Goodell and 30 of his owners and the Green Bay Packers Board of Directors. Get moving on getting a stadium package approved that would allow the McCaskey family, the owners of the NFL’s Chicago Bears franchise, to start building a venue in Arlington Heights, Illinois or the business could leave your state. The league’s stadium committee will swing into action after the NFL Draft during the week of April 27th and the league is tired of waiting. Indiana legislators are willing to put up money to build a 21st century state-of-the-art football venue for the McCaskey family. The preferred Indiana location is Hammond, which is about 30 miles south of Chicago. Hammond had one of the NFL’s original teams when the league was founded in 1920. There weren’t many league games actually played in Hammond as the Hammond Pros football team played as a travelling squad. The franchise lasted until 1926.
The Illinois legislature may have a chance to upend the Indiana bid but time may be running out. The Bears’ ownership bought the Arlington Park racetrack property in the Chicago suburb in February 2023 for $197 million. Bears’ ownership was set to build a stadium-village in town but then came the property tax bill. Bears’ ownership was alarmed with the tab and decided Chicago was a better option. That didn’t work out. The McCaskey family, the owners of the football business, claimed they were willing to throw in about $2 billion to help finance the Arlington Heights venture but they also said they needed public support. Illinois lawmakers have introduced a bill that would allow any developer of “mega projects” that have a more than $500 million investment, to negotiate property taxes directly with local governments for up to 40 years. NFL powers want something done now.
