The Chicago Bears have played at Soldier Field since 1971. That’s 55 years in a stadium they don’t own, on a lease that didn’t give them equity or control. But when Churchill Downs Inc. put the 326-acre Arlington International Racecourse up for sale in 2021, the Bears moved fast. They closed the purchase in February 2023 for $197.2 million, with plans for a $5 billion domed stadium and entertainment district. But three years on, they still haven’t broken ground.

And now, Illinois has roughly two weeks to change that. Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia has been the clearest voice on what that window means.

“It wasn’t about Arlington Heights versus Chicago any longer,” Tinaglia said. “This is now about keeping one of the most fabulous franchises in the whole NFL here in Illinois.”

Tinaglia, Governor JB Pritzker, and Illinois State Representative Kam Buckner have together been the architects of the attempts to retain the Bears and understand the urgency of getting the deal done.

“If we can get that done sometime before the end of the month, the hope is that we actually have a vote and kind of rest the concerns of the team,” Tinaglia added.

The bill in question is House Bill 2789, the “mega project” legislation. It was notably discussed by the Illinois House Revenue & Finance Committee in late February, but still needs full House passage, a Senate vote, and Governor Pritzker’s signature before the May 31 session deadline.

Now, if the session closes without action, Indiana becomes the go-to answer. Indiana Governor Mike Braun enacted the amended Senate Bill 27 around the same time Illinois was weighing its options. Indiana’s bill establishes a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority with the power to issue bonds, acquire land, and finance construction near Wolf Lake in Hammond.

Under this bill, the Bears would invest over $2 billion while the state contributes roughly $1 billion through a 12% admissions tax, food and beverages tax, and toll road revenues. This appeals to the Bears’ core demand of property tax certainty.

Under the current village agreement, finalized in December 2024, the Bears pay $3.6 million per year on the Arlington Heights site, down from $8.9 million the team paid in 2023. But that deal only runs through 2027. HB 2789 would replace it with a structured arrangement, letting the Bears negotiate a fixed payment directly with local governments for a minimum of 20 years, giving the franchise the tax stability needed to finance the stadium project.

The friction around this stadium deal had been quietly growing over the years. Back in 2024, Governor Pritzker had dismissed the Bears’ $5 billion project as a “nonstarter.” Chicago Democrats, led by Kam Buckner, had threatened to pull support from the bill unless it included financial concessions for the city in the event the Bears relocate to Arlington Heights. Additionally, the city’s CFO had also publicly opposed the bill. Without the Chicago delegation’s support, House leaders adjourned without a full vote.

But the Bears pivoted. In December 2025, they formally expanded their search to Indiana, a demonstration that the franchise holds $197.2 million worth of options. That search expansion shifted the conversation in Springfield. And what made it impossible to overlook was a move that came from Kansas City.

The Chiefs’ move puts Illinois on notice

In December 2025, the Kansas City Chiefs announced that they were leaving Arrowhead Stadium after 62 years for a $3 billion domed facility in Wyandotte County. Kansas lawmakers voted unanimously to authorize STAR bonds covering approximately $2.4 billion (up to 70% of construction costs), funded through state sales and liquor tax revenues. The stadium is set to open for the 2031 season.

For the Bears, this worked wonders. Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia spoke about the impact of Kansas City’s decision.

“That really opened up everybody’s eyes that, ‘Hey, maybe they would really leave. Somebody else is doing it, right?” Tinaglia shared.

Illinois had been operating on the belief that the Bears were too embedded in Chicago to leave. But it was a convenient assumption that the Chiefs ended. Crossing a state line for a better deal was no longer hypothetical, and the city needed to do whatever it could to keep its $8.9 billion NFL franchise at home.

Since then, Governor Pritzker and legislative leaders are reportedly aligned on both public infrastructure and the PILOT legislation. Ticket price affordability provisions are also being folded into negotiations, evidence that this has moved past politics into actual policy work.

The Bears hold $197.2 million in land they still cannot develop, under a $5 billion stadium plan that requires a bill that hasn’t yet passed. Five years in, the franchise’s next move depends entirely on whether Springfield can close a deal before the calendar does it for them.