NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made several pit stops in the Chicago suburbs before arriving at Soldier Field on Saturday night.
On Saturday, Goodell toured a 326-acre parcel of land the Bears are considering building a new stadium in Arlington Heights, Ill., and then attended Team beats Green Bay Packers in wild-card playoffsAccording to “Front Desk Sports” report. Goodell toured the site with Bears president George McCaskey and team president and CEO Kevin Warren.
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The trip was reportedly part of the team’s “ongoing due diligence” to find a new stadium.
The Bears first purchased land in Arlington Heights, about 30 miles northeast of Soldier Field, in 2023 and have been pushing to build a $5 billion dome to replace Soldier Field. Other proposals have been floated, including building a new lakefront stadium near Soldier Field that would cost taxpayers about $2 billion. There have been other efforts to try to renovate Soldier Field.
The Bears played their first game at Soldier Field in 1926 and have been full-time tenants at the site for more than 50 years. The stadium is the smallest in the league by capacity.
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Last month, Warren sent a letter to season ticket holders telling them that Illinois leaders told him their stadium project would not be a priority in 2026. As a result, the Bears expanded their search for a stadium in the greater Chicago area. Notably, that includes northwest Indiana. While it’s not entirely unusual — the New York Giants and New York Jets share a stadium in New Jersey, for example — the idea of the Bears leaving the state was met with a lot of criticism and humor.
Goodell also toured “multiple proposed sites” in northwest Indiana before the game, according to Front Office Sports and FOX’s Paris Schutz.
While it’s unclear how real the threat of the Bears moving to Indiana is, the apparent willingness of Warren and the team’s leadership to take Goodell on a tour of the area is apparently real enough.
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When the Bears eventually move to a new stadium, or where it ends up, remains anyone’s guess. But Warren is clearly still focused on finalizing and implementing the new stadium deal.