The Bears are getting closer to their stated goal of building a new stadium in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said he remains opposed to taxpayers building a stadium directly, but he believes an agreement could be reached in which the state would spend taxpayer money on infrastructure around a new stadium.
“There’s a lot of discussion, a lot of ongoing conversation with the Bears, and indeed, frankly, progress that’s been made. So I’m pleased about that,” Pritzker said. “But I’m going to let the Bears talk about what it is that they want to get done and how they want to get it done. And I’m obviously involved in negotiations and so are my entire team, as well as the members of the legislature.”
The governor’s office also released the governor’s schedule from January, which showed Pritzker had two 30-minute conversations with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell around the time Goodell was in Chicago to attend the Bears-Packers playoff game and tour potential stadium sites.
Officials in Indiana have been attempting to work out a deal that would provide taxpayer money for a new Bears stadium that would lure the team out of Illinois. But the Bears’ preference is to stay in Illinois, and that appears likely to happen.
