The Chicago Bears have high hopes for their new digs. And the proposal has caught the eyes of the fans. Furthermore, JB Pritzker teased progress on the new stadium deal after meetings with Roger Goodell. This is according to the Chicago Tribune via NBC Sports.
“There’s a lot of discussion, a lot of ongoing conversation with the Bears, and indeed, frankly, progress that’s been made,” Pritzker said. “So I’m pleased about that. But I’m going to let the Bears talk about what it is that they want to get done and how they want to get it done. And I’m obviously involved in negotiations. And so are my entire team, as well as the members of the legislature.”
Pritzker had two 30-minute conversations with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Those came when Goodell was in Chicago to attend the Bears-Packers playoff game.
Bears will likely stay in Illinois
There have been attempts to lure them across the border, Michael David Smith wrote.
“Officials in Indiana have been attempting to work out a deal that would provide taxpayer money for a new Bears stadium that would lure the team out of Illinois,” Smith wrote. “But the Bears’ preference is to stay in Illinois, and that appears likely to happen.”
But maybe Indiana is still in the picture, according to fox32chicago.com.
“Sources close to the Chicago Bears say the only site they are considering in the Hoosier State is near Wolf Lake in Hammond, right across the Chicago border,” Paris Shutz wrote.
At the top of the consideration list for the new stadium is the taxpayers.
“The most important point I would like to make is we’re not going to do anything that’s bad for the taxpayers,” Pritzker said. “We are helping businesses build infrastructure. And other things that are available to any business that’s growing. Or building something new in the state of Illinois that’s putting people to work. Those are normal incentives. And that’s what I’d expect we’ll end up with for the Bears.”
