Gov. Braun: Bears Stadium Deal in Hammond ‘Looks Good’
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Governor Mike Braun said Tuesday a new Chicago Bears Stadium “looks good” as the NFL team thinks about leaving Soldier Field.
Braun expects The Hoosier State’s bid to succeed after the Bears board voted to advance a new stadium proposal in Hammond.
“When they made that announcement unanimously from their board that they were focusing on Indiana, that was after six years, five-and-a-half of which they had a deaf ear from their own state, governor, legislature, City of Chicago, that’s what happens when you have a deaf ear to the customer,” Braun said. “They have now unanimously on their board said they are focusing on Hammond, Indiana.”
Braun says he is hopeful the Bears will come to Hammond.
“There’s gonna be some due diligence along the way,” he said. “We were in communication with them twice a week since they called me six months ago. They know they’re dealing with somebody that’s a handshake business partner, has come a long way.”
The comments follow a pushback from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who questioned the Indiana deal would happen. Pritzker and leading statehouse democrats want the Bears to outline their demands for tax breaks and public infrastructure before attempting to lock down a new stadium proposal in the Chicago area.
“They’ve asked for advice, and so our staff as well as legislators have offered them that,” Pritzker said as he referred to a pair of bills that received only limited support before the General Assembly retired on June 1. “I think they’re looking at both of the bills that passed, the one in the House, the one in the Senate, hoping to put the provisions of each of those together in a form that they think will pass.”
The Bears initially targeted late spring or early summer for a final decision, but the first day of summer passed this past weekend with no resolution in sight.
