Bears edge closer to move for new stadium in Northwest Indiana - ESPN

CHICAGO — The Bears took a significant step toward leaving Illinois on Friday.

The Bears' board of directors voted Thursday to advance their stadium development in Hammond, Indiana with the exact site still to be determined. This is this first time that the Bears' board has voted on any stadium site.

The Bears plans to leave the state they've called home since their inception for Indiana comes just days after the end of Illinois' spring legislative session.

«We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana and the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across the neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city,» Bears Chairman George H. McCaskey and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement.

The Bears' announcement Friday does not guarantee the team will leave Illinois. Per a league source, while Indiana is «in the lead» to lure the Bears across state lines to build a domed stadium, «Illinois can still get back in the race,» the source said.

«The club has kept the stadium committee and league office apprised of all developments,» NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told ESPN

After the «megaprojects» bill died in the Illinois senate last weekend, a proposal that would have allowed the Bears to negotiate payments in lieu of paying property taxes on the Arlington Heights, Illinois. property they currently own, a late push was made with alternative legislation.

At 11 p.m. Sunday, Illinois state Senator Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) introduced new legislation that would allow Cook County cities with more than 70,000 residents (like Arlington Heights and Chicago) to create their own sports stadium authority. The Bears would pay for the construction of the new stadium,