It is time to accept reality. Kevin Warren said his goal was to get shovels in the ground on a new Chicago Bears stadium in 2025. That didn’t happen. After failing to secure the necessary legislation during the Illinois spring legislative session, their hopes for 2026 took a hit. That is why the team opted to shift its focus to Hammond, Indiana. With all the legislation out of the way, the only thing they have to do is pick a preferred site and start building, right? Nothing is ever that simple. At least not with this team.
One thing that has become abundantly clear about this process under Warren’s guidance is how half-baked the process is. It is clear the Bears haven’t done their homework in any of this. They didn’t provide Illinois with a crucial traffic study to secure the infrastructure funding they needed. Now it’s happening again. Both potential spots in Hammond have a similar issue. Large swaths of land sit on wetlands, which are environmentally protected. That means the Bears must obtain court approval if they wish to build there.
It sure doesn’t sound like they’re in a hurry to do that.
The Chicago Bears will carry this into 2027.
There are no signs at this point that any decision is remotely close. Legislation in Illinois is deadlocked until at least the fall. Indiana faces two environmental roadblocks that typically take over a year to resolve due to the extensive logistics involved. That is assuming the Bears can win the necessary court battles. In other words, unless they achieve some sort of miracle and can get a special session called this summer, there is no way they will get everything in order to start building this year.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
Not that it is surprising. All we have to do is look at how Warren has operated throughout his tenure. Nothing about his time as president has come across as organized. His pivot away from Arlington Heights to downtown Chicago in 2024 was the first sign that he has an extremely poor track record of common sense. Warren is a dreamer. He has plenty of big ideas but no concept of how to make them a reality. A smart and seasoned executive would’ve understood the first step in this process was learning who he was dealing with in Springfield.
Fans had best get used to watching games at Soldier Field.
Don’t forget the Chicago Bears’ lease to that stadium runs through 2033. At the rate things are going, there is a growing possibility it will expire before a new building is even finished. Warren said it takes three years for the stadium to go from start to finish in construction. That means they must start building by 2030 if they hope to avoid such a humiliation. You’d think there is no way it would take another four years for the Bears to navigate the red tape, but that would be giving them too much credit.
This is the same franchise that needed 74 years to find a franchise quarterback.
Much depends on Warren. Pressure is mounting on him with each passing week. He may act self-assured in public, but nothing to date suggests he is in control. It is more like he keeps throwing things at the wall, hoping something sticks. It took him three years before even bringing Indiana into the conversation. Nobody in Springfield likes or respects him. One has to wonder if George McCaskey should consider putting someone else in charge. He’s already losing money with each passing month this goes on.
