ESPN continues to be at the very front of the ongoing saga involving the Chicago Bears and their future stadium. Recently, the organization announced its plans to move forward with plans to build a new state-of-the-art stadium in Hammond Indiana, ending their over 100 years in the Windy City of Chicago.
Despite this, there have been many Bears fans who have been holding out hope that the Illinois legislature will panic enough and pass necessary resolutions to entice the organization to stay within the city limits of Chicago, or at least move to a suburb within the state itself.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter says that is not going to happen.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter says the Chicago Bears move to Indiana is happening
The reason the Bears organization has decided to leave, not only Chicago, but also the state of Illinois is because the legislature decline to pass tax breaks that they felt they needed in order to make a new stadium as profitable to them as possible. Meanwhile, Indiana has passed those kinds of tax breaks, paving the way for the Bears to make the move.
And while some hope that Illinois law-makers will throw a Hail Mary and get it done before the organization packs up, Schefter says that is not going to happen:
Adam Schefter’s source inside Halas Hall says the move to Indiana is real and “barring anything very strange, it’s a done deal.” #DaBears pic.twitter.com/qOxGXY9MCA
— Ben Devine (@Chicago_NFL) June 14, 2026
“It is not a bluff. There is more work to do, but barring anything very strange, it’s a done deal,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show last week.
This is truly an interesting situation, especially since the Bears’ lease at Soldier Field is not up until 2033. In theory, they could have waited for that to expire, or at least get closer to the expiration date, to make a final decision.
As it stands, though, the organization made it clear they want to be in a new stadium before the end of the decade, and with that timeline in place, have chosen Hammond, Indiana as their next home.
