Pen hasn't been put to paper quite yet, but the Chicago Bears are now closer than ever to moving out of Chicago and out of the state of Illinois entirely.
On Friday, Bears chairman George H. McCaskey and President/CEO Kevin Warren announced that the Bears' Board of Directors has voted to approve and advance a stadium development project in the city of Hammond, Indiana. If the move is completed, the Bears would become the city's first pro sports team in over a hundred years.
"Yesterday, the Chicago Bears Board of Directors met and voted to advance our stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana, with the exact site to be selected," the statement said. "We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city. It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses.”
Despite technically being part of the state of Indiana, the city of Hammond is considered a suburb of Chicago and is actually less than 30 miles from the heart of the city. It's only about a 40-minute drive away from Soldier Field on a good day.
Hammond, Indiana is actually closer to the heart of Chicago than a good number of NFL stadiums to their listed city.
But it's the principle of the thing.
Mockery
The Bears and the city of Chicago in particular have been getting mocked for "losing" the team (even though it's potentially less than an hour away):
"Terrible, should have stayed in Chicago. I can’t think of one fan that would think going to Indiana is a good idea. Kevin Warren & George McCaskey are bums!" one user on X declared.
"The Chicago Bears were part of Chicago’s identity, and moving them to Indiana feels like a betrayal of the city and fans who built this franchise. I’m devastated and frustrated that ownership chose parking lots and development over the city that made this team what it is," wrote another.
"Warren doesn’t survive this, in my opinion. Yeah, this might be a bluff but if the Bears move to Indiana he will forever be known as the guy who was brought in to get a new stadium over the goal line only to move the team to another state. And George will be the guy who hired him. All this a year after Virginia died. She’ll be rolling in her grave looking at this. Brutal stuff," a third wrote.
If it's any consolation, there are already three NFL teams that have long-since removed themselves from the cities that share their name and it wasn't the end of the world. The New York Giants, New York Jets and Washington Commanders left their respective cities decades ago and are doing fine.
While it may feel weird at first, Bears fans will get over it eventually.
It's not like they have any other NFL teams in their vicinity to switch to.
