Brash Talk Emerging from Hammond Mayor Regarding Bears Stadium

By Gene Chamberlain

Hammond, Ind. — The battle to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois has taken on a sharper edge, with Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. openly taunting his cross-border rivals while Indiana’s legislative package for a new stadium advances toward a full House vote.

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, McDermott framed the contest as both an economic slam-dunk for Indiana and a public-relations rout. “At the end of the day, if the Chicago Bears spend 10 minutes in Hammond and they end up saving a billion dollars in Illinois, I can’t control that—that was a good investment by the Bears,” he said. “But if Illinois can match our deal … I think nine times out of 10 the Bears pick Indiana because we’re a better business climate.”

Indiana’s proposal, which cleared a House committee this week, centers on lower corporate taxes, a surplus-backed financing model, and a public-private partnership structure that McDermott argues offers long-term cost certainty. By contrast, Illinois officials have offered little beyond expressions of disappointment over the team’s non-committal statement thanking Indiana for its interest.

Governor J.B. Pritzker and a handful of local lawmakers issued a joint response labeling the Bears’ note “disappointing,” but have yet to table a counter-proposal. McDermott pounced on the tepid reply, questioning whether Illinois truly views the franchise as “the pride of Illinois,” a lyric from the team’s own fight song.

“We have a surplus as a state,” McDermott noted. “It seems like Illinois is sort of digging in against the Bears, which is shocking to me.”

While the mayor conceded that Illinois could still introduce legislation before its spring session ends, he expressed skepticism that lawmakers will move quickly enough. The Bears have publicly sought only two things: tax certainty and $860 million in infrastructure improvements around their preferred Arlington Heights site. Indiana, McDermott claimed, can deliver both faster and cheaper.

In a moment of unabashed confidence, McDermott even envisioned quarterback Caleb Williams “driving down Calumet Avenue, going to his house in Robertsdale,” a nod to the upscale lakefront neighborhoods that Hammond hopes will entice players and staff. The mayor also suggested—without confirmation—that the team is weighing a relocation of its headquarters, Halas Hall, despite a recent multi-million-dollar expansion completed barely five years ago.

Pritzker pushed back late Thursday, telling reporters that Bears president Kevin Warren “chose not to be in that meeting” where state officials and team representatives reportedly “mostly agreed on a bill.” The governor added that the Bears later assured his office their statement “was not some confirmation that they’re moving to Indiana.”

Still, with Indiana’s bill speeding toward a floor vote and Illinois yet to unveil matching incentives, McDermott’s trash-talk appears to be landing punches in the public arena. Whether the war of words translates into a permanent move remains uncertain, but the clock is ticking on Illinois to convert disappointment into action.