INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mike Braun suggests the state is approaching a deadline for the Chicago Bears to solidify a deal to relocate the team to Hammond, Indiana.
According to ESPN’s Ian Rappaport, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and officials with the Bears met with Illinois lawmakers in Chicago this week to discuss a deal to prevent the team from moving to Indiana.
Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker confirmed the meetings during a Friday press conference, saying he hopes to have stadium legislation ready for the Illinois veto session, which starts Nov. 17.
Braun said if the team doesn’t make a decision soon, Indiana may move on.
“Indiana has assembled an excellent deal to build a world-class stadium in Hammond, Indiana,” the state’s Republican governor said in a statement. “All negotiations have been done in good faith and to ensure that Hoosier taxpayers are protected. We encourage the Chicago Bears to fully commit to a stadium in Indiana because it is nearly time for the state to shift its energy and resources to the next opportunity.”
Indiana lawmakers approved a stadium package this year that would see the Bears commit $2 billion toward the stadium project and $1 billion coming from public funding. But the due diligence phase and site evaluation in Hammond’s Wolf Lake area have dragged on without a finalized contract signed.
In August, Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said the team’s “sole focus” was working toward a new stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond. Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston, a Fishers Republican who lost his reelection campaign on Tuesday, called it a “done deal”.
Pritzker did not identify an Illinois stadium site. “This is up to the Bears,” he said.
The most recent effort to finance a new stadium in the north Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights failed earlier this year when the Illinois General Assembly’s proposal fell apart at the last minute.
