Bears contact city officials to explore returning to lakefront stadium site

Chicago city officials and the Chicago Bears held recent talks that reopened questions about whether the team could still return to a lakefront stadium concept after publicly narrowing its search to Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said the discussions involved terms for a new lakefront stadium, while the team said any contact was limited to lawyers discussing lease matters tied to Soldier Field. The dispute surfaced in the final days before a May 31 deadline in Springfield for legislation the Bears say they need to keep Arlington Heights viable. Senator Bill Cunningham, a lead Senate negotiator on that bill, said the renewed Chicago contact stiffened opposition among city lawmakers. ### What contact did the Bears have with Chicago? Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said this week that the Bears had recent meetings with Chicago’s Corporation Counsel regarding terms for a new lakefront stadium. ABC7 Chicago reported the mayor’s office described the meetings as discussions about a new stadium on the lakefront. Senator Bill Cunningham told NBC Chicago that the Bears reached out to the city in recent weeks about what he described as a hypothetical return to the lakefront if Arlington Heights did not work out. Cunningham said the contact occurred in late April and gave Johnson a basis to argue that Chicago should remain in play. (abc7chicago.com) A source close to negotiations told NBC Chicago the talks were instead focused on lease parameters at Soldier Field, not a revived stadium plan. The Bears made the same distinction publicly, saying any meetings were “limited to counsel-to-counsel engagement” and involved no conversations with team management. (nbcchicago.com) ### Why did those talks matter in Springfield? Bill Cunningham said the Bears’ outreach “breathed new life” into Johnson’s opposition to the Illinois megaprojects bill designed to support an Arlington Heights stadium. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Cunningham, the bill’s top Senate sponsor, said Johnson’s late push peeled away support for the measure among Chicago lawmakers. (nbcchicago.com) May 31 is the scheduled adjournment date for the Illinois spring legislative session, and the Sun-Times reported the Bears have said the bill must pass for Arlington Heights to remain a serious Illinois option. Cunningham also cited unresolved traffic concerns near the site and questions about how a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes structure would affect local taxpayers. (nbcchicago.com) Governor JB Pritzker and Johnson have also diverged publicly over the team’s next home. The Sun-Times reported Pritzker is focused on Arlington Heights, while Johnson has continued trying to keep the team in Chicago. ### If the Bears say Chicago is out, why is the lakefront still being discussed? (chicago.suntimes.com) The Bears said on May 21 that they had “exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago” and that “there is not a viable site in the city.” The team added that “the only sites under consideration are in Arlington Heights and Hammond.” ABC7 Chicago and USA Today both reported that statement on Thursday. (chicago.suntimes.com) Mayor Brandon Johnson has not accepted that position. Johnson said this week that his “hope has never been lost” and that Chicago remains the best location for the team, according to ABC7. A source in the mayor’s office told the Sun-Times there had been multiple meetings with the Bears since April and said the discussions had evolved beyond the lease to a new lakefront stadium. (abc7chicago.com) The lakefront idea also has a recent history. In April 2024, Johnson appeared with Bears President Kevin Warren and Chairman George McCaskey to back a proposed domed stadium near Soldier Field, but WBEZ reported Illinois lawmakers quickly rejected that package because it depended on substantial public funding. ### What are the two sites the Bears still publicly acknowledge? (abc7chicago.com) Arlington Heights remains the Bears’ in-state option. The Village of Arlington Heights says the team bought the 326-acre Arlington Park property in February 2023, and the site has been central to the team’s suburban stadium plan. Hammond remains the out-of-state alternative. (wbez.org) Indiana officials announced a framework in February 2026 for a Bears stadium project in northwest Indiana, and Hammond city officials have promoted legislation naming Hammond as the location for a potential new stadium. Soldier Field is still the Bears’ current home under a lease that runs through 2033, according to NBC Chicago and other local reporting cited this week by lawmakers discussing the team’s options. (vah.com) Cunningham told ABC7 that the late-April talks began around that existing lease before shifting, in his account, to hypotheticals about the lakefront. (indianacapitalchronicle.com) ### What happens next before the team chooses? Illinois lawmakers have until May 31 to act on the megaprojects bill tied to Arlington Heights. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that deadline is central to whether the Bears keep the suburban Illinois site alive, while Indiana’s Hammond proposal remains available if Illinois does not deliver. (nbcchicago.com) Mayor Brandon Johnson, Governor JB Pritzker, Senator Bill Cunningham and Bears executives are the named participants shaping the next step. The immediate milestone is not a stadium groundbreaking but the end of the Springfield session, when lawmakers will decide whether the Arlington Heights legislation moves forward. (chicago.suntimes.com)