"Our focus is on Hammond:" Bears bear down on Indiana

Executives with the Chicago Bears have confirmed that their preferred route to a new stadium goes through northwest Indiana, and that their eventual new home may be made up of two potential sites just across the state line.

"Right now, our focus is on Hammond, Indiana," team President and CEO Kevin Warren told reporters at Halas Hall on Thursday, for the team's first update on its stadium process since team directors voted in June to pursue an offer from Indiana leaders to build a publicly-funded domed stadium that the Bears could rent with an option to buy.

Warren said the team has completed its analysis of what he calls a "viable" stadium site near the Lost Marsh golf course, and is now checking a second site near Wolf Lake, with an eye toward combining them for a larger development: "We thought if we could cohesively bring those together, and just make sure that entire area comes together from a mixed-use standpoint, it would even be better."

Bears chairman George McCaskey praised Indiana leaders for their approach during the due diligence process: "They've been very proactive, very communicative, very solution-oriented."

And neither Warren nor McCaskey are publicly second-guessing their efforts to lobby state lawmakers in Illinois for incentives to lower the potential cost of building a stadium on land the Bears already own in Arlington Heights. The Legislature fumbled two separate incentive plans in the waning days of the spring session, and since then Warren has described the team's contact with Illinois leaders as "minimal."

"We thought we presented a pretty compelling case," McCaskey said of the team's efforts to build support among members of the Legislature.

Before the team's update on Thursday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker told reporters at the Illinois State Fairgrounds that he's open to incentives that don't hurt state taxpayers.

"The Legislature and I want to be partners in that endeavor," the governor said. "The Bears themselves have to figure out (what) they want in a final bill." However, Warren suggested there was no mystery to the team's wish list: "We've been very clear over the last couple of years about the things that we've always needed."

Warren would not say directly whether the team had completely ruled out eventually building a stadium in Arlington Heights, saying only that "we don't have an offer from the state of Illinois. Our focus now is on Indiana." And as for timing, Warren on one hand said the team "will make sure that we take our time and get this right," but also suggested that the window for conversations about other potential venues was closing: "Time is now, and it's time to bring this to a close."

Both Warren and McCaskey admitted that convincing fans to cross the state line to attend Bears football games will require an adjustment, but both said they believed fans would come around once they see the environment the team is planning.

"Once they understand that our top priority from Day One was a world-class stadium experience, we believe they'll make that adjustment."

The Bears' lease at Soldier Field runs through 2033.