Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Examining the latest on the Bears stadium roller coaster (Hour 1)
20 Feb 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What are the latest developments in the Bears' stadium situation?
This hour is sponsored by Black Lung Brewing. Rahimi Harrison-Grody, 10 to 2 on 104.3 The Score.
Alan, just know that here in Chicago today, most of our show has been centered around whether or not the Bears are leaving Soldier Field, which is a conversation that I think started percolating around the time you were still here. It's still going.
I didn't know if it was a spoof. I saw Indiana. Was that supposed to be some kind of sick joke?
No, sir. What is it supposed to mean?
I don't know, sir. When I was there, not so much so. Just a tiny bit, they were rumbling that it was going to be where the old horse racing area was at. But I saw Indiana today, and that absolutely blew my mind. Once a mind is pre-blown, it cannot be re-blown.
The fact that you said it came off as a spoof to you, does that tell you how outraged you think Chicago fans would be at a move like taking the Bears, not only out of Soldier Field, but out of the state of Illinois and putting them in Indiana?
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Chapter 2: How do Chicago fans feel about the possibility of the Bears moving?
Listen, I don't know if that's a negotiation tactic. I don't know what it is. It just sounds so foreign to me that the state of Indiana would even have two football teams and the state of Illinois would have zero.
It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal. So you get nothing. You lose. Good day, sir.
I can't even fathom the Chicago Bears not being in Chicago, let alone being not even in the state of Illinois. Where do you live? Chicago. Excuse me? Chicago. It's in Illinois. Layla Rahimi. Marshall Harris.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of the Bears' potential move to Indiana?
Mark Grody. Middays 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104.3 The Score.
Hello and good morning. What's your DEFCON level at when it comes to Bears Stadium? How do you feel about it today? What a roller coaster yesterday was as the news broke during our show. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score.
Mark Grody is also in today and did some reporting on it as he has since the inception of this concept began, which I'm pretty sure is 84 years ago, like the Titanic. Titanic.
It's been 84 years.
Which one is more real than the new Bears Stadium? The Titanic, which sunk, is still more real than the new Bears Stadium.
That movie was a documentary, right?
Come back, Jack!
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Chapter 4: How is the Illinois government responding to the Bears' stadium negotiations?
100% somebody was drawn like one of your French girls. Absolutely happened.
Bears, come back.
The heart of the ocean is a necklace.
You said they're moving to French Lick? Is that what you said? The Bears are? No. Oh. Larry Bird joins us at 125. What do you think about all this French lick business, Mr. Bird?
Also, by the way, there is some big state of Indiana news this morning that broke. Pete Thamel, per an ESPN source, Kurt Cignetti has agreed to a new deal at Indiana that pushes his annual salary up to $13.2 million. It goes through 2033. So congratulations to Kurt Cignetti, who actually deserves it.
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Chapter 5: What specific financial proposals are on the table for the Bears' new stadium?
You know what I call that? I call that Mark Cuban's hard-earned donor money at work. I call that Indiana just keeps getting things done, don't they? Pushing through the House and the Senate 24 to nothing. Democrats and Republicans getting along. Boy, Indiana is the place to be, isn't it? See, you're trolling.
But, however, it was a very busy day at the Indiana Statehouse. It was. And that's what we were covering was... The Bears were supposed to have a meeting, as we mentioned, scheduled for 8 a.m. yesterday, the day before that we know they had met for three hours with state of Illinois officials. Kevin Warren was not in attendance at that meeting.
We also know he was supporting his great niece, who is an Olympic speed skater at the Olympics, which... Family is important, so I understand that aspect of it, too, although you usually only build one stadium in your career unless you're Kevin Warren, who now has the chance to build two.
Chapter 6: How does the Bears' situation compare to other NFL stadium deals?
We had a Minnesota one here. And in addition to that, then we get the information of, well, how earnest is this Indiana situation that's going on? You know, we have guys like Adam Hogue tell us in our show it's at the half-yard line. Then we hear other concepts of what's happening where –
The Hammond mayor spoke, but he said there's not been, even though Wolf Lake has been discussed, there is not a specific site that has been checked out yet. So that's very important. when you consider where they're at with this. Like, for example, in Arlington Heights, the Bears bought a specific plot of land, so you know exactly where it is. You know exactly how big it is.
And Hogue tweeted, because he was at that press conference. This happened at 3 o'clock yesterday. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott's still not ready to discuss specific location around Wolf Lake. Specific location. Says it's the Bears' project, so it's up to them to decide when to talk about the location. Then we get the news from Rob Elgis, Marshall's co-worker over at ABC7.
Chapter 7: What are the environmental considerations for the proposed Hammond site?
that there's a lot to do regarding due diligence. The proposed Hammond site will require strict environmental review. And Elgis saying, IMO, this is another late-game public negotiation tactic. We might be in the fourth quarter now. Senate Bill 27, which was trying to... Get the framework financially for the state of Indiana to fund a Bears stadium did pass, as you just mentioned, Mark.
We understand that will include more taxes for the state. We went over those yesterday. So they were earnest in their efforts and their process to make sure they're doing what they need to get it going. And then there's also Governor Mike Braun, who spoke to the afternoon show yesterday. But I think when you reset, going back to, say, 10.08 this morning yesterday...
We felt differently about the certainty of a Bears stadium in Indiana versus now there's another meeting scheduled, according to the Daily Herald, between the Bears and officials of the state of Illinois for next week. And then we also got the information from J.B. Pritzker saying that the Bears were the ones who postponed the meeting. It wasn't canceled necessarily.
Chapter 8: What are the next steps for the Bears in their stadium negotiations?
It was just postponed and that there was legislative language they had to go over, which in a bill is very common. You know, so... The roller coaster yesterday for me was the Indiana thing I thought looked more concrete. I do think the state of Indiana is going through the processes that are typical with something like this for a stadium.
They're doing all the things that they're supposed to be doing. They've got their ducks in a row. They're crossing their T's. They're dotting their I's. But we still don't have an understanding of the framework of a deal in Indiana. How much money would they get back? How much money would they spend up front? What would be the split of the profit between them and the Bears?
And we also don't understand on the Bears' side, If you're committing $2 billion to a proposed $5 billion project, where's the other three coming from if $880 million are going to infrastructure? So all of that is very much still up in the air. And then I think the biggest part for me was when you still don't have a set location in Hammond, that makes it come together in a different way for me.
It's not nearly as cut and dried as we thought, although the state is doing the right things in order to put that funding together.
Talking about the Bears stadium development and where it's going to be built. Will it be in Hammond, Indiana? Will it be in Arlington Heights where the Bears own the land here on Rahimi Harrison Grove? 104-3 the score. And I got to tell you, Layla, it did come.
with a little clarity for me, when you hear the way that Mike Braun talked about things, when you get the understanding that they don't have the exact location, that tells you they're not maybe as far down the road of a stadium in Indiana as a lot of people assume they were when those tweets came out yesterday morning in concurrence with the, hey, this meeting's postponed, by the way, with Illinois.
And it just feels like two states jockeying for position, And as I always say, it's usually hard to beat the incumbent in anything. It's usually hard to come in there and take away something that belongs to someone else, unless you have a really good plan, one that can't be overlooked by the person who's being propositioned. In this case, that person would be the Chicago Bears.
I still believe wholeheartedly that the Bears... will get a better deal offered to them by Indiana. It's just a matter of whether or not the Bears want to pull the trigger.
And if that money is a big enough difference to stop them from building on their own property in Arlington Heights, it comes down to what is that number that they're saying, it's so big, we're saving so much or making so much, however you want to look at it, that's what's going to take us to Indiana.
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