5 minSports
Hammond, Indiana Emerges as Serious Contender for Bears' New Stadium
The Chicago Bears are considering a move to Hammond, Indiana, after the city spent years assembling land and Indiana's constitutional property tax caps offer certainty Illinois cannot match.
The Chicago Bears may be playing their final seasons at Soldier Field as the franchise moves forward with stadium development plans across state lines in Hammond, Indiana, a city that has quietly positioned itself as a serious contender for the team's future home.
The Bears announced in June that they were advancing plans for a stadium in Hammond, marking the most concrete step yet in a long-running effort to secure a new venue. The team completed a review of the Lost Marsh site while also conducting due diligence on the Lake Terminal site, according to Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr.
McDermott said the city's preparations were never made with the Bears specifically in mind. For years, Hammond worked with state government to assemble dozens of acres of underutilized land, eventually accumulating about 300 acres available for development.
«We did a lot of things in Hammond and in Indiana to prepare us for this day,» McDermott said. «But you know, I'd be lying to you if I told you I thought that when we were doing this, I thought we'd be the future home of the Chicago Bears.»
The mayor described the site as one that would have been unthinkable for a stadium when he first took office, citing multiple landowners and old-fashioned thinking that left the area underused. Over his first two or three terms, the city and state began assembling the acreage.
«I'll be honest with you, never in a million years did I think that we'd one day be the home—the future home of the Chicago Bears,» McDermott said. «We were just doing it to clean up and hoping that good things would happen and improve the quality of life.»
Beyond land acquisition, Indiana offers a key financial advantage. The state enshrines property tax caps in its constitution, limiting payments to 1%, 2% or 3% depending on property classification. McDermott said that certainty is a major draw for the Bears, who cannot secure similar guarantees in Illinois.
«One of the buzzwords of this whole ordeal with the Bears is property tax certainty, which is something the Bears are interested in, and they can't get property tax certainty in Illinois,» he said. «And certainly in year zero and for the next 30 years, they certainly can't get property tax certainty.»
The region's economic momentum adds to Hammond's case. Heather Ennis, president and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum, said the area is a $52 billion regional economy and has seen more than $30 billion in committed investment over the last 10 months, not including any potential Bears deal.
«We're really seeing people be bullish on Northwest Indiana and the opportunities that are coming to the region,» Ennis said.
McDermott also pointed to unprecedented bipartisan cooperation, spanning federal, state, Republican and Democratic officials. Indiana's two U.S. senators are Republicans, the governor is a Republican and McDermott is a Democrat, yet he said the coordination has been seamless.
«I'm in my sixth term and I've never seen the coordination across federal, state, bipartisan, Republican and Democratic lines, everybody working in lockstep,» he said. «Governor Braun has been a great leader for Indiana. He is helping Hammond out tremendously.»
The mayor said the city shifted its focus from one Hammond location to another a couple of months ago without any disruption, a move he believes impressed the Bears. «It was literally a gear shift and we just rolled right with it and they're the customer,» he said.
This is not the first time the Bears have considered Indiana. In the late 1990s, the team explored a move to Gary, but the effort fizzled. That history made McDermott skeptical when talks resumed.
«I'll be honest with you, I started off skeptical. I really did because we've been through this drill before in Northwest Indiana,» he said. But the current discussions, he added, are far more serious than any previous round.
As the Bears prepare for their 2026 home opener against the Minnesota Vikings, the game will mark the start of their 55th season at Soldier Field. Whether it proves to be among the last remains an open question, but Hammond officials say they are ready if the team decides to make the move.
