Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Best of the Bears: Stadium site focus turns to northwest Indiana
21 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What is the Bears' plan for a new stadium in northwest Indiana?
Thanks, everybody. The Bears.
Last one here, man, is this special man. And a lot of you guys don't see what he does behind the scenes, but he worked here for a number of years, okay? It's his birthday tomorrow, and I know this man just a little bit more to him.
Kevin Warren, what do you think? But I'll remain steadfast that the goal is to make sure that we have shovels in the ground in 2025, and I'm confident that will happen.
It's funny because I was talking about shovels in the ground. Now that the snow is gone, apparently those shovels are on the move. Not in this ground. Yeah.
Perhaps in other grounds.
Maybe in other grounds. And it doesn't seem like there will be any ground broken 2025. That's because the Bears are opening up...
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Chapter 2: How are Indiana officials reacting to the Bears' stadium proposal?
their stadium project to a bunch of different suitors. This is the Spiegel and Holmes show. Big Ant Heron is in for Speegs. So an open letter from CEO Kevin Warren was put on the Bears website. I know that people don't always enjoy reading on the radio, but to be fair, let's do that so that you can hear what the Bears think about all this and then we can discuss it.
Okay.
Dear Chicago Bears fans, on the Monday night of our home opener, September 8th, 2025, the passion in every corner of Soldier Field was palpable and powerful. Today, 100 days later, that feeling is even stronger. We had a strong win this past weekend at Soldier Field and record-setting cold temperatures with your support and encouragement. We have won five of our six home games this season.
Your support lifts the team. With two regular season home games remaining, we are focused on building a championship organization worthy of you. Next graph. The same standard has guided our work on a new world-class stadium. Earlier this season, we shared that Arlington Heights is the only location in Cook County that meets the requirements for a world-class NFL stadium.
Chapter 3: What insights does sports business expert Marc Ganis offer about the Bears' options?
we still believe it offers the best and only path forward in Cook County given there are no other viable alternatives. Over the past several years, we have worked in good faith with Illinois leaders and made clear our commitment and readiness to invest more than $2 billion by the Chicago Bears, one of the largest private investments in state and NFL history. Next paragraph.
We have not asked for state taxpayer dollars to build the stadium at Arlington Park. We asked only for the commitment to essential local infrastructure, roads, utilities and site improvements, which is more than typical for projects of this size. Additionally, we sought reasonable property tax certainty to secure financing.
We listened to state leadership and relied on their direction and guidance. Yet our efforts have been met with no legislative partnership. Next paragraph. Stable timelines are critical, as are predictable processes and elected leaders who share a sense of urgency and appreciation for public partnership that projects with this level of impact required.
We have not received that sense of urgency or appreciation to date. We have been told directly by state leadership our project will not be a priority in 2026, despite benefits it will bring to Illinois. Consequently, in addition to Arlington Park, we need to expand our search and critically evaluate opportunities throughout the wider Chicagoland region, including northwest Indiana.
Next paragraph. Next paragraph.
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Chapter 4: Why is Arlington Heights still considered a viable option for the Bears?
The Bears have called Chicago home for more than a century. One certainty is that our commitment to the city will not change. We will continue to provide unwavering support to the community. We need to secure a world-class venue for our passionate fan base and honor the energy you bring every week. The Chicago Bears are a founding franchise playing in the oldest and smallest stadium in the NFL.
Next paragraph. As we move forward, our goal is clear. Build a world-class football team that has a world-class stadium worthy of our world-class fans, a stadium that reflects the future we are building together. Every home game, we are reminded of one thing. Bears fans are the best fans in all sports. We appreciate you. You cheer, you care, you love your Chicago Bears. Take care and Godspeed.
Sincerely, Kevin Warren, President and CEO, Chicago Bears Football Club. What's your reaction, Big Ant?
Chapter 5: What challenges do the Bears face with state leadership in Illinois?
Well, at least they didn't say they were thinking about Wisconsin. Could have been worse. Not yet. Yeah, not yet. I mean, to expand the search, it would indicate that the sides involved here, and I guess I wouldn't even necessarily say the two sides, but I would say the sides involved, yeah, are...
are still significantly far enough away, and especially the timeline that's been discussed here to get to the end of 2025. And as a reference, we were just talking about this at the top of the show. It's sunny outside. The snow is melting. Temperature is reasonable to get some shovels in the ground. That's not happening by the end of this calendar year.
And the fact that the Bears were apparently informed that ā this wouldn't be a priority in 2026 either, then it indicates to me that perhaps, at least my read on it, is that perhaps the Bears felt like there was some pressure attempting to be applied to them to accept what's on the table or we're just not going to make your stadium happen even next year.
So this seems to be, again, this just happened a few minutes ago, I haven't spoken to anyone from the Bears about it, but my interpretation of this is the Bears perhaps felt like, well, if you're going to try to pressure us to say that this is perhaps your best and final offer,
Chapter 6: How does the political landscape in Indiana affect the Bears' potential move?
We don't like your best and final offer. So we're just going to expand our search beyond where we're at in Arlington Park. That's initially ā this feels like perhaps the Bears are reacting to the idea that we feel you can do better. We don't like where you're at. So we're going to keep expanding our search then if you're telling us that this isn't going to happen in 2026.
Yeah, it's interesting because I ā There's a couple things that stand out to me. One of them is Kevin writing in here that this is not about leverage. It is clearly about leverage. Isn't everything?
Yes.
Everything's about leverage when you're negotiating. Of course it is. And that is made clear as he continues to write about this, that this is about leverage. And then he makes the case.
Chapter 7: What are the implications of the Bears expanding their search for a stadium?
I... Not that anyone up there asked me, okay? But I feel like they have made a bunch of mistakes when it comes to this. And one of those mistakes that they've made is they felt like they have... the public's ear.
And maybe even now, thinking because the Bears are good and fans feel really good about where things are going under Ben Johnson, and Kevin deserves a lot of credit for opening up the purse strings to bring Ben Johnson in. I think they have continued to make the mistake of thinking that Bears fans are not citizens. And citizens care about things like where their tax dollars go.
And we've seen, even in Kansas City, we've seen even in Missouri, where they have three Super Bowls over the last six years, that the people of Missouri were like, no, we don't like the idea of you reaching into our pockets for you to build a... you and the Royals to build a stadium in downtown Kansas City. So I think this is one of those things where...
I wish they were doing a better job of lobbying the legislators instead of trying to appeal to the fan base. I felt like that's what that pep rally at Soldier Field was. And to me, it felt like a lack of understanding of where the power of the purse strings is.
Like aligning yourself with Brandon Johnson, who is clearly an advocate for the city and a Bears fan, but has no power when it comes to getting the Bears what they want from the state legislature.
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Chapter 8: What final thoughts do the hosts have on the Bears' stadium situation?
That kind of lack of understanding to me is baffling. And so when you put this out here, and it might be a good time for it because of how Bears fans feel about it, I don't think that you're making a lot of friends in the place where you still need to make friends. I started thinking about where are the landmines in this? If I'm the Bears, that's how I would be looking at it.
And I think that there's been a lack of understanding of what... what government entities are connected to what and how Chicago politics is different from county politics and county politics is different from state politics. Now, in some cases, those things overlap. You have someone like Cam Buckner who represents the city in, In the state legislature.
And he's got thoughts about how all of this should happen. We've talked to him multiple times on this show. I imagine we'll talk to him again soon at some point considering this. It's not knowing how the game is played. And so you're kind of...
You're kind of working backwards a little bit here because you have a parcel of land that everyone knows that you paid hundreds of millions of dollars for the land in Arlington Heights. So... It comes off as an empty threat when we know that you've already said that you think that Arlington Heights is the best place for you to do it in Cook County.
When you then throw, well, we'll move the team to Indiana. And that's another place where I feel like there are some landmines. And the reason is, I don't know, and I have to do more study on Indiana legislature, okay? But if I'm just looking at population and regionalism in Indiana... If you look in that state, there is a significant space of where I would consider Bears fans to be, a.k.a.
the region, northwest Indiana, all right? The rest of that state is filled with Colts fans. And the rest of the legislature, I would imagine, in the state of Indiana is filled with Colts fans.
And you point that out not because Bears fans couldn't travel to the stadium because it's, what, 30 miles away from Chicago.
It's going to be easier for a lot of Bears fans to go to a stadium in the region than it is in Arlington Heights. Yeah, but your point is more so about the political climate of actually making it happen.
there.
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