Chicago Bears Just Confirmed Long-Awaited Stadium Plans

For months, Kevin Warren seemed adamant about his stadium desires for the Chicago Bears. The team president wanted to keep them downtown along the lakefront, believing it was the best choice for prestige and economic reasons. Unfortunately, the Bears faced constant resistance from Governor J.B. Pritzker and his state government. They refused to entertain ideas of helping such a project with public funding. Warren remained optimistic that things would soften after the election. It never did.

Earlier this year, signs began popping up that the Bears might be starting to pivot back toward Arlington Heights. They'd made significant progress in discussions about property taxes, which was the primary reason Warren started looking elsewhere. After one last bout of waiting to see if Pritzker returned to the negotiating table, it seems the Bears have decided. According to Robert McCoppin of the Chicago Tribune, the team has entered serious negotiations with Arlington Heights about getting the stadium deal done.

The Chicago Bears are shifting focus to a new stadium in Arlington Heights, a project that would depend on state legislation allowing for negotiated financing of large-scale development projects.

“Over the last few months, we have made significant progress with the leaders in Arlington Heights, and look forward to continuing to work with state and local leaders on making a transformative economic development project for the region a reality,” the team said in a statement to the Tribune on Friday.

The Bears said they will not seek state funding for the stadium.

The Chicago Bears were always destined to go this route.

They've spent decades operating in a position of weakness regarding stadium discussions because of how expensive it is. George Halas never had the capital necessary to seize the franchise's freedom, so he kept leasing buildings like Wrigley Field and Soldier Field. At last, the Chicago Bears are wealthy enough to venture out to seize their independence. They fully own the Arlington Park property and are free to do whatever they want with it. Funding will still be a challenge. They will almost certainly get help from the NFL and private investors. Still, this always felt like the direction they were meant to go. That new stadium will look beautiful, and most importantly, the construction of it can start this year, as Warren initially planned.