The Chicago Bears’ plan to potentially move to Indiana is going at a good pace. Back on September 3, the Bears ran a survey asking fans for their opinion about their team moving to Hammond. No matter what the fans say, Bears legend Brian Urlacher is not in support of Chicago abandoning Soldier Field. He has voiced his frustration earlier, too, and now broke his silence on the September 26 episode of Caps Off Podcast. 

“I don’t know how it can happen. I don’t know how the state of Illinois has let it get this far in the process of them possibly leaving. Talk about dropping the ball, man. They don’t,” the 8x Pro Bowler said on the podcast. “I’m on the Bears side. I think they should go wherever they can make the most money. The ownership. It’s a business. They own that team as a business. They don’t make money on Sundays.

Soldier Field is owned by the city of Chicago. So they get the parking, they get the concessions. I don’t know exactly. I think they get the parking, they get the concessions, they make a lot of money on Sundays, and the Bears don’t, so why not build a stadium that you own and you can make money instead?”

Urlacher blamed Illinois for not doing enough to retain the Bears but supported the team’s pursuit of a stadium that would give ownership greater control over its revenue.

Well, we know where the ex-Chicago linebacker is coming from. Illinois lawmakers failed to advance a bill designed to encourage the Chicago Bears to build a new stadium in the state, despite a last-ditch effort by the Senate during the closing hours of the spring legislative session.

The amended bill passed the Senate 37-17 with bipartisan support at around 3:30 a.m. on June 1, after an all-night session. Bill sponsor Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, referenced the late hour before the vote, saying that “some of the best, most memorable victories have been in double or triple overtime.” However, the House adjourned nearly an hour later without voting on the Senate proposal.

Fans held Mayor Brandon Johnson, Governor JB Pritzker, Chairman George McCaskey, and President Kevin Warren accountable for this. Urlacher’s frustration also stems from the fact that Illinois never fought for Chicago to have a new stadium. After all, with 61,500 seats, it is the smallest stadium in the NFL. 

The Bears have never owned their home stadium, playing at Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970 before relocating to Soldier Field, which is maintained by the Chicago Park District. Owning a stadium would allow the team to manage its operations and schedule while generating revenue from ticket sales, concessions, parking, naming rights, and other sources.

Earlier, Urlacher pushed back the idea of the Bears playing anywhere other than Soldier Field, considering it to be the ideal spot for the team.

“I do not like the Bears playing anywhere but Soldier Field,” Urlacher said to Kevin Clark on This Is Football in June. “Even if they went to Arlington Heights, which is in Illinois, they’re going to be in a dome, and if they go to Indiana they’ll be in a dome. I don’t like the idea of them playing in a dome anywhere. It’s the only advantage the Bears have. You go to Soldier Field in November, December?

It’s gonna s**k. The weather is not gonna be good. You’re not gonna like it. And playing there, you practice in it, you get used to it, there’s some advantage to that.”

On Aug. 13, Bears controlling owner George McCaskey held a joint press conference with team president and CEO Kevin Warren. That’s when he confirmed that the team had two options in hand: Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana. However, they have planned to move ahead with Indiana. He also confirmed that they will stick to the name Chicago Bears, no matter where they play.