Gov. JB Pritzker says he hopes lawmakers will act during next month’s veto session to advance a stadium plan aimed at keeping the Chicago Bears in Illinois, following a meeting he held in Chicago with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, legislative leaders and one of the team’s minority owners.
The comments come as recent developments suggest the team may not be fully committed to building a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana, despite announcing earlier this summer that the suburb was its sole focus.
Friday evening, ABC7 learned that a potential bill in Illinois could keep the Bears in the state by making the stadium publicly owned.
Sources told ABC7 lawmakers are looking at a plan that would have the new stadium be publicly owned by a stadium authority. That would mean no property taxes for the Bears. This is similar to a bill that passed the Illinois Senate earlier this year, but did not get voted on by the House.
However, ABC7 was told this is just one idea being examined, and there’s no deal yet.
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Pritzker told Capital News Illinois that he is “hopeful and expects that the legislature should take up sometime in the veto session a bill that would advance the cause of keeping the Bears in the state of Illinois.” Lawmakers return to Springfield on November 17.
The Bears’ 326-acre property in Arlington Heights – the former Arlington Park racetrack purchased three years ago – could be back in contention as a stadium site. Pritzker said acting during the veto session “would be very important for us to advance, you know, sooner rather than later. And indeed, I think the veto session is exactly the right time.”
The team shifted its attention to Hammond after competing House and Senate bills stalled at the end of the spring legislative session. With 43 lawmakers representing Chicago, supporters of an Arlington Heights plan say the question now is whether enough of them will back new legislation to incentivize the team to move from Chicago to Arlington Heights.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford said he believes lawmakers will rally behind keeping the Bears in the state.
“You don’t vote to send the Bears away,” he said. You vote to keep the Bears in Illinois, and I don’t think that anyone that represents Chicago will vote to send the Bears to Indiana. But they will be voting to make sure that we keep the Bears in Illinois.”
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House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch wrote in a social media post that lawmakers’ focus “remains on responsible steps that protect taxpayers while keeping the Bears in Illinois.” He also noted it was his second meeting with Goodell in recent weeks.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose administration was not part of Thursday’s meeting, reiterated his position that the team should remain in the city. “The Bears belong in the city of Chicago, and I’m grateful that conversations, you know, have continued. You know, I’ve never, you know, closed my door to this conversation.”
Sources say the Bears have ruled out a new stadium within Chicago city limits because no suitable sites exist. Some have floated the possibility of using the Rate Field site in Bridgeport if the White Sox relocate, but the team’s options appear limited to Hammond or Arlington Heights – if lawmakers can craft a plan the Bears will accept.
Pritzker said Thursday’s meeting was productive.
“So we had a good, good meeting,” he said. “I think it was all the right players at the table.”
The Bears have been seeking legislation that would provide property tax certainty if they build in Arlington Heights. Because the veto session follows the November election, any vote would come after political pressures have eased.
Capital News Illinois contributed to this report.
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