The Chicago Bears were planning to move to the suburbs a year ago. But the plans are changing, and the team is now looking to stay in the city of Chicago.
An ESPN report on Monday, Mar. 11 said that the Bears are looking to build a stadium directly south of their current stadium, Soldier Field, which is the oldest stadium in the NFL and has the lowest seating capacity of any team.
The franchise, which has all eyes on it right now because it has the first pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, was expected to move to Arlington Heights, a Chicagoland suburb, sometime within the dozen years after it purchased a 326-acre property in February 2022.
The team purchased the site that used to house the Arlington International Race course for nearly $200 million and was expected to build a stadium with surrounding commercial properties in the area worth billions of dollars, but no development has begun.
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Reports started to surface over the last few months that the Bears were starting to consider downtown locations and this new ESPN report makes it clear that staying in the city of Chicago has become the team's priority.
One of the issues that has surfaced for the Bears in building a new stadium is getting public funding, especially as other teams in the city like MLB's Chicago White Sox and NWSL's Chicago Red Stars are also looking for public funds for their own stadiums. Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker has also been hesitant to the idea of giving out tax millions — and potentially billions — of tax dollars to funding the homes of these Chicago sports franchises.
However, Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren told ESPN in the report that the team plans to contribute "over $2 billion" to building the team's new stadium, which could cover a significant chunk of the cost.
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For perspective, the Tennessee Titans' new stadium, which is expected to be used by 2027, was worth $2.1 billion and used over $1.2 billion in public funds.
"The future stadium of the Chicago Bears will bring a transformative opportunity to our region -- boosting the economy, creating jobs, facilitating mega events and generating millions in tax revenue. We look forward to sharing more information when our plans are finalized," Warren told ESPN in a statement.
A new home for the Bears would allow the team to build a domed arena, which would be important for the team to avoid the freezing cold Chicago weather during games and could pave the way for the franchise to host bigger NFL events down the line like the Super Bowl.
The Bears' lease at Soldier Field ends in 2033, though the team could vacate the stadium as early as 2026 if it decides to pay a penalty that starts at $84 million, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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