Chicago Bears team president Kevin Warren and team chairman George McCaskey took the time to update the media and the fans on the efforts the organization has made toward building a new stadium and the focus is clear.

Warren told reporters that while the Bears have had “occasional” meetings with the state of Illinois that he described as “minimal,” the team’s sole focus now is building the new stadium in the state of Indiana instead.

Indiana has already provided the legislation needed to move forward with the project, something Illinois was not able to provide earlier this year. However, the challenge with Indiana is finding the right location for the stadium.

Chicago Bears are moving forward with Indiana being the ‘sole focus’ of the new stadium site

The team completed the due diligence process at the Lost Marsh site in Hammond, Indiana and view it as a viable while also conducting on-going due diligence on another suitable site at the Wolf Lake Terminal in Hammond with the opportunity to merge the two sites together for a large development.

“The representatives from the state of Indiana – all the way to the Governor’s office to representatives in Northwest Indiana – have been phenomenal partners,” Warren explained. “They have been stellar to work with, very professional, diligent, with a can-do attitude.”

While all of this sounds like it’s progressing, the Bears are still not getting fully tied down to Indiana and are still taking all of the time needed before making such a big decision, with no updated timeline for when construction can begin. Ultimately, the big takeaway from this press conference that the Bears now have viable sites in Hammond to consider.

“There have been occasional meetings that have taken place [with Illinois], but right now our focus is on Hammond, Indiana to make sure we bring that to life,” Warren explained.

The ‘Chicago’ Bears aren’t going anywhere in the grand scheme of things

Th idea of moving the Bears out of Chicago and into Indiana is still hard for some fans to understand. This is a really difficult process involving millions of dollars and political drama. At the end of the day, the Bears are doing everything they can to build the best possible stadium for the future of this organization.

“Our focus is on the fans,” Warren said. “It’s important that we build a world-class stadium that has a mixed-use development with restaurants and hotels to have that special game day experience. The focus every single day, every meeting we’re in, we’re focused on the importance of building this relationship with the fans. I can understand frustrations and hopefully when we finish the stadium and open up, and they get the chance to experience, that they will be grateful for what we have done.”

And the big thing for the fanbase is that there will be no changes to the team’s history, no matter where the team actually plays their games and the only thing really changing is the travel time needed to get to the games (which honestly isn’t that different compared to Arlington Heights).

“We will be the Chicago Bears whether we’re in Arlington or whether we’re in Hammond,” team chairman George McCaskey said. “… It’s going to require an adjustment. But, when I’ve driven that route, other than a sign telling me so, I wouldn’t know that I just crossed the state boarder. Once people see the building, once they get in there, once they understand that our top priority from day one is a world-class stadium experience, we think we’ll make that adjustment. We think Bears fans are up for it.”

For the first time in this entire process, the Bears seem to have a dialed in focus on where they want this stadium project to go and that is toward Hammond, Indiana. Now it’s about getting fully on board with that plan and finally getting some shovels in the dang ground.