WEST TOWN (WBBM Newsradio) -- Mayor Brandon Johnson says the City of Chicago has no intention of taking a back seat in the negotiations over the Bears' next home, even as two other potential sites move ahead.
The battle over where the team will play its home games in the future is increasingly focused on the former Arlington Park property the team bought in 2023, as well as a potential site in Hammond that the state of Indiana would build and then lease to the Bears with an option to buy.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signaled his support for state contribution to road and other infrastructure improvements around an Arlington Heights stadium. However, the mayor told reporters the city has not received the same backing.
"The city of Chicago never received the type of partnership we've seen ... with other proposals," Mayor Johnson said Monday after speaking during Pulaski Day observances at the Polish American Museum, 984 N. Milwaukee Ave. "The city of Chicago has never been guaranteed $950 million for infrastructure. That type of investment can unlock the greater capacity that the Museum Campus has."
The mayor again recalled the presentation he and Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren made in 2024 to remake the Museum Campus around a publicly-owned domed football stadium, and suggested it was still the most viable plan for the team's new home: "I have not seen a proposal that matches the gravity and the significance of the thousands of jobs and opportunities that would manifest as a result of this investment."
He said he continues to be in "constant" communication with state lawmakers and Gov. Pritzker's office, and insisted Chicago was still a player in the talks over the Bears' next home: "We've never taken a back seat. Chicago won't take a back seat."