HAMMOND — An incentive package to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois collapsed on the eve of the last day of the legislative session. Illinois lawmakers had only hours to assemble a new deal to prevent the team from relocating to Indiana before the legislature adjourned on May 31, 2026.
The proposed Illinois bill would have permitted the Chicago Bears to negotiate a payment in lieu of property taxes for a new stadium in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago. The measure passed the Illinois House in April 2026 but stalled in the Senate, partly due to opposition from Chicago lawmakers who did not want to encourage the team to leave the city.
The Chicago Bears announced their intention to stop renting Soldier Field in Chicago and instead build a “world-class stadium” in either Arlington Heights or northwest Indiana. In February 2026, the team stated, “We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific, necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium” in northwest Indiana and pledged $2 billion for the project. The team had not formalized a stadium deal in Indiana as of that date.
Indiana lawmakers moved to strengthen their offer by passing legislation to help fund a Bears stadium. The proposed site in Indiana is the Lost Marsh Golf Course in Hammond. Indiana’s proposal includes state-backed bonds to be repaid by new local taxes generated by the stadium development. Illinois passed a revised version of its incentives package through the House in April 2026, but the full legislature did not approve it before adjourning.