How one Indiana city went from skeptical to serious contender for Bears' new stadium

When the Chicago Bears kick off against the Minnesota Vikings for their 2026 home opener on Sunday, it will mark the start of their 55th season at Soldier Field. It also may be the last. Hammond, Indiana, certainly hopes it is.

The Bears announced in June that they were moving forward with stadium development plans across state lines in Hammond, Indiana. This isn’t the first time the Bears have talked about moving to Indiana, as there were discussions in the late 1990s, but none were serious.

Now? The discussions are as serious as Ben Johnson saying he wants the Bears to have the highest-scoring offense in NFL history. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said that while the city has been preparing for this, even he didn’t think the work would eventually lead to Hammond potentially becoming the next home of the Bears.

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"We did a lot of things in Hammond and in Indiana to prepare us for this day," McDermott told OutKick in a recent interview. "But you know, I'd be lying to you if I told you I thought that when we were doing this, I thought we'd be the future home of the Chicago Bears."

The Bears completed their review of the Lost Marsh site in Hammond while also doing their due diligence on the Lake Terminal site. McDermott said those potential sites for a stadium came to be through efforts to clean up the area.

"The site that we're talking about right now, if you were looking at it when I first took over, it was I don't think the Bears would have even thought it was possible to locate a stadium there because there was so many different landowners. it was underutilized and it was just old-fashioned, old thinking," McDermott said.

"For the first two or three terms, in cooperation with the state government, we started assembling dozens and dozens of acres and we got it to where we have about 300 acres available."

But even throughout the process of assembling the acreage, it was never done with the thought the it could one day be the home of the Bears.

"I'll be honest with you, never in a million years did I think that we'd one day be the home—the future home of the Chicago Bears. We were just doing it to clean up and hoping that good things would happen and improve the quality of life," McDermott said.

However, acquiring and developing land wasn’t the only thing Hammond did to prepare for the Bears. The state of Indiana has more favorable property tax caps than Illinois, which McDermott said was of interest to the Bears.

"Another thing that Indiana did to prepare for this day was there's a gap from one side of the state line to the other in what it costs to run a household, what it costs to run a business, and in Indiana, we enshrine tax caps, property tax caps, into our constitution. And one of the buzzwords of this whole ordeal with the Bears is property tax certainty, which is something the Bears are interested in, and they can't get property tax certainty in Illinois," McDermott said.

"And certainly in year zero and for the next 30 years, they certainly can't get property tax certainty. And in Indiana, ours are enshrined in our constitution. You can't pay over 1%, 2% or 3% depending on your classification."

Heather Ennis, president and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum, told OutKick in a recent interview that Northwest Indiana has seen billions of dollars invested in the region, not including any potential deal with the Bears.

"We're a $52 billion regional economy and we're seeing in the last 10 months over $30 billion of investment committed to the region, and that doesn't even include any of the Bears conversation. So we're really seeing people be bullish on Northwest Indiana and the opportunities that are coming to the region," Ennis told OutKick.

Another thing working in Hammond’s favor? Complete cooperation across the board.

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McDermott said he has never seen more bipartisan cooperation in his 23 years than he has during the Bears discussions.

"I'm in my sixth term and I've never seen the coordination across federal, state, bipartisan, Republican and Democratic lines, everybody working in lockstep. And I mean from the U.S. senators in Indiana, both of them are working on this project. The congressman in Indiana who's a Democrat, both U.S. senators are Republicans, the governor is a Republican and I'm a Democrat. And you wouldn't know it at all when you're looking at everybody working so hard on this project," McDermott said

"Governor Braun has been a great leader for Indiana. He is helping Hammond out tremendously. And this is a Democratic city that probably didn’t vote for Governor Braun for governor. So the bipartisanship, the federal partnerships that we have with the state partnerships, you need all that. And quite frankly, we started off on one location in Hammond and sort of changed course a couple months ago and nothing changed. We just shifted modes up here. And I think that impressed the - it was literally a gear shift and we just rolled right with it and they're the customer."

"If this is what the Bears want us to look at, no problem, sir. And we get to work. And it's been very business friendly. I think the Bears would tell you they're very impressed with the bipartisanship and the total cooperation they've received from Indiana."

This is not the first time the Bears have considered moving to Indiana. In the late 1990s, they considered moving to Gary, Indiana.

But it didn’t work out, which is why McDermott, among many others, was skeptical that the Bears were serious about making a move this time around.

"I'll be honest with you, I started off skeptical. I really did because we've been through this drill before in Northwest Indiana in the '90s, a similar type of situation with the Bears. The location was supposed to be the city of Gary at the time and that never panned out. And there was a lot of skepticism in Northwest Indiana that the Bears were never serious in the '90s and they're probably not serious now," McDermott said.

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"So, I had that lingering doubt, but I'm a mayor. I'm a longtime mayor. I'm an economic development guy. I like to close deals. So, as a mayor, even if you think there's not much of a possibility, you're still going to work your tail off to try to make it happen. And that's the approach I took to it."

McDermott said he was brought in last year around the holidays but that Gov. Mike Braun and the speaker of the House were involved long before he was. McDermott said he had to sign nondisclosure agreements to keep things quiet.

For McDermott, things didn’t feel real until he got a call from a big company that he declined to identify about the potential acquisition of its property.

"When I started to finally feel like this was the real deal, I remember there was a big company in my city," McDermott said. "But a big company called my office and it panicked because they got calls from the state of Indiana about their property being acquired. And that's when I was like, 'Okay.’"

"It was a big company and they were like, 'Mayor, do you know what's going on? Why is the state of Indiana interested in buying our property?' And we couldn't tell them why, but there were a lot of high fives in City Hall that day because that's when it hit me. Wow, this isn't the 1990s. This is a totally different ordeal."

As for Soldier Field, the Bears’ lease runs through 2033, but they can pay a fee to break the lease early. Soldier Field is about 40 miles south of Halas Hall — the team’s headquarters in Lake Forest — and Hammond is about 20 miles south of the team’s lakefront stadium.

Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston was the lead House sponsor of Senate Bill 27, which passed with ease. The bill created a funding mechanism for the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to build a future stadium in the state.

Huston said the Bears moving to Indiana would create opportunities that would last for generations.

"This project would be a transformational opportunity for Northwest Indiana. It would deliver lasting benefits across the region and our entire state, building on a foundation that’s already been put in place for the last two decades. Northwest Indiana is experiencing tremendous growth and potential, and an investment of this scale would take that to another level — bringing new jobs and businesses, attracting visitors and residents, and creating opportunities that will benefit Hoosiers for generations," Huston told OutKick in a statement.

"Indiana has created an environment that keeps costs low for businesses and families, attracts investment, supports job growth and expands opportunity. When the potential of this project presented itself, state and local leaders recognized its potential and moved quickly. That combination of a low-cost, forward-looking environment and a willingness to get things done is what continues to attract businesses, investment and people to Indiana."

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Becoming the new home of a professional football team means a lot more than just building a stadium and then calling it a day. The city also needs to have requisite infrastructure to harbor tens of thousands of fans, highways and roads for them to travel on.

With Hammond on the southern tip of Lake Michigan, McDermott said the utility infrastructure is already well developed.

"We have a lot of big businesses here. We have industrial businesses here. We have a data center here. We have big users of energy and our infrastructure. Hammond's located just to the south of the tip of Lake Michigan. So, all of the infrastructure, the utilities, the highways, the rail lines go through Hammond. And in a project like this, the fact that the utility infrastructure is already so built up because we're the southern tip of Lake Michigan is helping us tremendously when we're looking at bringing in a stadium because the stadium needs heavy infrastructure," McDermott said.

McDermott said Arlington Heights, Illinois, about 30 miles northwest of Chicago and another location the Bears are considering, faces a challenge in terms of infrastructure, while Hammond doesn’t have that same issue.

While Hammond doesn’t face that same issue, McDermott said the area does need significant highway, interstate and road infrastructure improvements, but it already has a good blueprint.

"Although we're going to need a massive infusion of highway and off-interstate and road infrastructure improvements, there's $600 million built into this deal for infrastructure improvements around the proposed footprint of the stadium. We already have a good blueprint and it's only going to get bigger and better," McDermott said.

Ennis said Indiana has all the infrastructure needed to bring a project like this to fruition, calling Indiana "the crossroads of America."

"We are the region that built America. Over 25% of the nation's steel is built here and in our region, and so we have all of the infrastructure to be able to bring a project like this to fruition. We've got great highway infrastructure connectivity to Chicago. We've double tracked the commuter rail line and have an extension of that commuter rail line to extend down further into Lake County," Ennis said.

"We are truly part of the Chicago metro area, and so that great base of infrastructure that is already here with the beautiful waterfront, the great highway infrastructure, the commuter rail system. There definitely will need to be improvements made to continue to connect these sites to the opportunities that already exist, but other regions around the country drool over the infrastructure that we have here in Northwest Indiana."

For fans who are concerned about the stadium moving from Soldier Field to Hammond, McDermott admitted it’s easier to get to Soldier Field but said there are many ways to commute to Indiana.

"If you're in downtown Chicago, I understand that it was a lot easier to go to Soldier Field, but we are connected by highway. We're connected by water during certain times of year and by rail. It's far easier to get to Hammond and quicker than it would be to get to Arlington Heights," McDermott said.

"And the Bears could build a heck of a lot more stadium in Indiana than they could in Illinois right now because of the financial situation in Indiana versus Illinois. So, if you're a true fan of the Chicago Bears, I think we're going to have a better fan experience in Indiana. I think the team's going to be better in Indiana."

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McDermott made it clear: The Chicago Bears will remain the Chicago Bears. A name change was never discussed.

"Not even once. There is nothing. Listen, there's some Hammond Bears stuff going around Northwest Indiana, but I'm sure the Bears didn't authorize it. I just want you to know that was never—it's more of a local pride thing," McDermott said.

"Everybody knows the Chicago Bears are the Chicago Bears. That's never been broached by the state government or by the city government. The Chicago Bears are an icon, and there's no way we'd ever ask them to change their name."

The Bears themselves have echoed the same sentiment.

"We will be the Chicago Bears whether we’re in Arlington or whether we’re in Hammond," Bears chairman George McCaskey said in August.

McDermott also made it clear that while many people assume Indiana residents are automatically Indianapolis Colts fans, Northwest Indiana is Bears country.

"I know we're in Indiana. I know everybody thinks just because of our address in Indiana that we're Colts fans. That is not the case. In Northwest Indiana, it's the Bears, and probably the Packers are probably the second most liked team. The Colts are probably third in the region where we're talking about right now, but it's Bears country. So, like I said, I want the Bears to be good this year because everybody's happy when the Bears are good," McDermott said.

The Bears scored 59 points in their Week 1 win against the Carolina Panthers, dominating in the red zone.

Using an analogy in which a touchdown means the Bears are officially moving to Hammond, McDermott said the ball is currently in the red zone.

"We're in the red zone for sure. So, where are we in the red zone? I think the only people that could answer that is Mr. McCaskey and Kevin Warren. But I definitely think we're in the red zone and there's a lot of work going on, and it's hard to punch the ball into the end zone, and that's where we are right now," McDermott said.

"When you're in the red zone, the defense is tightened up and everybody's shoved into a little box and it's even harder to score. I think that's where we are right now, but we're going to punch it in."

McDermott said the ball is in the hands of McCaskey and Bears President Kevin Warren and that things are out of his control.

"The ball is 100% in their court. So, I try not to make promises. I realize this is not in my control. I hope that it's done sooner. I hope that the Bears choose Hammond and we start moving forward, and that's all it is really. It's hoping," McDermott said.

"But, you know, the Bears are going to do it when they're comfortable, and if they're going to invest billions of dollars into a piece of property, they got to be very comfortable that what they're doing is the right thing, and that's what they're doing and I don't blame them, you know?"

Ennis said while landing the Bears would be great for Indiana, the Bears should feel just as excited about choosing such a booming area.

"The Bears would—we would be lucky to have the Bears come here, but they would be just as lucky to locate here because we really have our act together and our communities are really working in lockstep to make those investments happen. Working together with the state, you know, across the entire platform to really make things happen," Ennis said.

As a Bears fan, McDermott doesn’t want to disrupt the team and bug McCaskey or Warren too much.

If McCaskey and Warren are anything like the Bears’ offense, they might make it to the end zone sooner rather than later and make Indiana the team’s new home.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.