Kevin Warren said Thursday that Hammond, Indiana stands as the Chicago Bears‘ only stadium focus, delivering the clearest signal yet that Illinois has fallen out of the running.
The declaration comes two months after the Bears’ board voted to advance the Hammond project, and with due diligence now complete on one site and a second gaining momentum, a final decision appears to be closing in.
Speaking at Halas Hall ahead of Saturday’s preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns, Warren called the Hammond development the organization’s “sole focus at this point in time,” according to reporters who covered his remarks Thursday. He described Indiana’s government as “phenomenal” partners and said the Bears are in touch with officials there nearly every day.
The comments build on what the team’s board signaled in June, when Chairman George McCaskey and Warren jointly announced a vote to advance the Hammond stadium project, with the exact site still to be determined at that time.
Warren said Thursday that due diligence is now finished on the Lost Marsh site, which he called viable, while pointing to a newly surfaced option, Wolf Lake Terminals, as an alternative that “can even be as good or better.”
Kevin Warren Details Chicago Bears’ Hammond Site Options
Under the funding framework Indiana lawmakers advanced this year, the state committed up to $1 billion in public funding toward the project through a new Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority empowered to issue bonds, acquire land and finance construction, according to CBS News Chicago’s Lauren Victory. The Bears, in turn, have pledged $2 billion of their own money toward the build.
“We will make sure that we take our time to get this right,” Warren said, according to reporters at the press conference. The team remains in the middle of due diligence on the Wolf Lake Terminals location, he added, signaling no rush toward a public rollout. Indiana Governor Mike Braun said this week he speaks with Bears representatives twice weekly and expects the process to move quickly once the sites clear review, calling a completed project potentially one of the biggest developments the region has ever seen.
Chicago Bears Address Illinois Status Amid Stadium Search
Contact with Illinois lawmakers has been “minimal” since the June board vote, Warren said, confirming no formal offer currently exists from the state.
“There is nothing in writing. We don’t have an offer from the state of Illinois, and our focus now is on Indiana,” Warren said, according to reporters covering the session.
The pivot toward Indiana followed the Illinois General Assembly’s failure to pass legislation supporting a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights, where the team had long been expected to build after purchasing the former Arlington International Racecourse for $197 million in 2023, according to CBS News Chicago.
The organization briefly floated a domed lakefront stadium near Soldier Field in 2024 before Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker declined to back public funding for that plan, pushing the Bears back toward Arlington Heights and, eventually, toward Indiana.
Warren stopped short of eliminating Illinois entirely, but he offered his most direct public confirmation yet that Indiana is the organization’s active priority. No final site selection was announced Thursday. Warren indicated clarity is emerging after weeks of quiet groundwork, but he declined to set a firm timetable, leaving the Lost Marsh and Wolf Lake Terminals sites both in play as the Bears push toward a decision on their next home.
Bears CEO Kevin Warren Announces Major Development on Indiana Stadium