Gov. JB Pritzker responds to Chicago Bears statement with Indiana stadium project

The Chicago Bears stadium saga took a drastic turn on Thursday morning with a flurry of news and events. And for fans who want the team to stay in Illinois, it’s not great news.

The Bears and Indiana have made significant progress on a potential stadium near Hammond, Indiana. The Senate Bill 27 passed on Thursday morning in Indiana and was followed up by a statement from the Bears. Now, the statement didn’t fully commit to a deal to officially move to Northwest Indiana but it certainly suggested they are heading into that direction.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

An Illinois House Revenue & Finance Committee meeting scheduled for 8 am on Thursday was cancelled with no explanation. The Bears were NOT going to come to an agreement with Arlington Heights during that meeting. But there were reports of positive movement forward with that potential deal.

Just a few minutes later, the Senate Bill 27 was passed as Indiana Speaker of the House Todd Huston stated that the Bears will commit $2 billion to a stadium project near Wolf Lake in Northwest Indiana.

It was then reported that there were meetings on Wednesday with the Bears and BOTH states. For Illinois, Kevin Warren was not in attendance but they felt like progress was made.

It’s safe to say, it threw Illinois off guard and they were disappointed.

Governor JB Pritzker responds to Chicago Bears news

On Thursday morning, Governor JB Pritzker talked to reporters in Collinsville just hours after the news was released. Per Brenden Moore, Pritzker was “very disappointing” that the Bears would put out a statement “but not say anything about the advancement that’s been made in the state of Illinois.” He said they’d “mostly agreed on a bill” before the team hit pause. 

Pritzker said that Warren chose NOT to be in the meeting on Wednesday.

Gov. Pritzker adds that Kevin Warren “chose not to be in that meeting” yesterday in which the team and state officials “mostly agreed on a bill.” The Bears, the governor said, told his staff today that their statement “was not some confirmation that they’re moving to Indiana.” https://t.co/OfKSGI72Mo pic.twitter.com/Hcjy5PYsgO

— Brenden Moore (@brendenmoore13) February 19, 2026

This certainly isn’t a done deal by any means but it feels like the Bears are right there at the one-yard line in terms of closing a deal with Indiana.

But as we have found out with numerous statements over the past 22 months, nothing matters until the shovels are in the ground. Can Illinois and Pritzker save the Bears being in Illinois with a Hail Mary?

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