Roger Goodell reportedly remains involved in Chicago Bears stadium discussions as talks continue
Stadium Update: "Feels like the Bears are in the red zone" | Chicago Sports Tonight
Cassie Carlson is joined by 104.3 The Score’s Mark Grote in studio on a wildly eventful Bears content day. Does Mark believe Arlington Heights is still in play for the Bears’ stadium plans despite today’s Hammond update and why does Mark believe the Bears are in the red zone to get a stadium deal done? Plus, Mark tells us why he wishes Caleb Williams would play in the Bears preseason opener on Saturday and how impressed he was with Ben Johnson after reading Dan Pompei’s profile of the Bears head coach.
The Chicago Bears remain focused on finding a viable location to build upon in Northwest Indiana.
However, even with the focus on Indiana, the Bears still haven't officially made the decision to build in Hammond and are doing due diligence on different locations. They also haven't closed the door on staying in Illinois, either.
According to a report, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is reportedly remaining involved in Chicago Bears stadium discussions as talks continue.
What they're saying:
On Thursday, Chicago Bears leadership reiterated its intent to focus on building a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana. Team president Kevin Warren and team chairman George McCaskey stood at the dais in Halas Hall and said as much.
However, the league also reportedly remains involved in the discussions.
According to Shia Kapos, a politics reporter for POLITICO, the Bears aren't the only ones who remain involved with Illinois lawmakers. POLITICO reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell remains involved in discussions about where the Bears might relocate, and the commissioner had a discussion with select Illinois lawmakers on Thursday.
The NFL declined comment through a spokesperson.
Goodell has been involved in the stadium discussions in the past, specifically providing an update in May 2026 as the state legislature was aiming
"There was a specific update on the Bears with respect to the two sites that they're evaluating that are viable in the Bears' mind and others and ours, both one in Illinois and one in Indiana," Goodell said in May in Orlando during a meeting between owners and executives. "The legislature in Illinois is obviously focused on that. They're getting into the final days of their session. I've spoken to the governor recently, and I think there's a focus on trying to get something done there, and then they'll have two viable sites that the Bears can make their decision from."
On Thursday, McCaskey reiterated some of the points Goodell has shared with him and other owners in the past.
"He has said to us many times in league meetings, hope is not a strategy," McCaskey said. "We have to deal with the here and now. We have to deal with real circumstances, and these are the real circumstances."
What's next:
The Bears still need to make a decision. The longer the team goes without officially deciding where they're going to build, the longer speculation might continue that the Bears are waiting for Illinois lawmakers to meet their needs.
"If I were standing where they stood yesterday, I might say exactly what they said," Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Friday. "Even though they have continued to have conversations with people in Illinois about what that future will look like."
However, in order to make a decision the Bears have been adamant that there needs to be something to decide on. McCaskey has mentioned Illinois has not put forth an offer for the Bears to consider, whereas Indiana has had a standing offer for them to move to Northwest Indiana since May.
It was a point he said again on Thursday.
"We were waiting to see whether there would be some substantive action taken," McCaskey said. "We thought we had presented a pretty compelling case that a stadium in Arlington (Heights) would be beneficial not only for the village of Arlington Heights, but for the community and for the entire state, really. Tremendous driver of economic activity, job creation, tax revenue, sales revenue. Ultimately, that argument was unsuccessful."
Illinois lawmakers had worked into the early hours of June 1 to pass a bill that would incentivize the Bears to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights. But, the bill never reached the Illinois House of Representatives for a vote.
The Bears have made it clear they won't turn down any potential discussions with Illinois.
"If there are substantive discussions to be had, let's have them," McCaskey said. "In Indiana they've been very proactive, very communicative and very solution oriented."
But, the end goal is to make a decision soon.
"I think it's prudent for us to move with pace based upon where we are," Warren said on Thursday. "The longer this goes on, it creates complications just from a building operation design standpoint."