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The Chicago Bears could be one step closer to leaving Illinois. Chicago’s Board of Directors voted to advance a stadium development project in Hammon, Indiana. It was the first time the Bears’ Board of Directors has actually voted on a potential stadium site. So is the move now guaranteed to happen?
ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave an update on Chicago’s stadium situation during a recent podcast episode.
“I reached out to one guy after the Board of Directors vote… his exact words to me, and I read them to you from his text, because I’m like is this real? Are they moving to Indiana? He said ‘yeah, it is. It’s not a bluff. There is more work to do but barring anything very strange, it is a done deal.’ That’s what he said,” Schefter said on Tuesday via The Adam Schefter Podcast. “Then he wrote, his words again, ‘Illinois f’ed it up. The politics are unbelievable in that state. Totally dysfunctional.'”
Not everyone around the NFL is convinced that the saga has been decided.
For example, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk questioned whether the Hammond move is a bluff or simply a leverage play to get a better deal in Illinois.
Still, the possibility of the Bears leaving the state has to be troubling for fans. Schefter explained how it felt when his childhood team made a similar move.
“The New York Jets, the team I grew up rooting for as a kid, trained on Long Island and played at Shea Stadium. They moved to New Jersey, and it was never quite the same again,” Schefter added. “They’re not around, they’re in another state. They still have a loyal, passionate fanbase but it’s not exactly the same.”
It will be fascinating to see if Illinois fights back to keep the Bears from leaving the state.
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