Indiana leaders: We'll "do everything we can" to bring the Bears over the border
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Say it with us: The Gary Bears. It's not not got a ring to it.
Catch up quick: Kevin Warren, CEO of the Chicago Bears, said in a letter this week that the team will begin looking outside Cook County for its next stadium — including in Northwest Indiana — after efforts to secure public funding to support an enclosed stadium in Illinois stalled.
- The Bears haven't asked for public money to build the stadium, but they have requested tax breaks and nearly $1 billion in infrastructure improvements to support it.
The latest: Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and Statehouse leaders at a legislative conference Thursday said they're here for it.
What they're saying: "We're going to do everything we can, now that they've made the overture, to see what we can do to make it happen," Braun said.
- "We will be part of that conversation," House Speaker Todd Huston told reporters. "We look forward to supporting our friends in Northwest Indiana on what, I think, is a great opportunity for our state."
The other side: A spokesperson for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said a move to Indiana would be "a startling slap in the face" to the team's fans.
- "I do not think that the taxpayers of the state of Illinois should be propping up what now is an eight and a half billion dollar valued business. They seem to be doing okay for themselves," Pritzker said in a statement to NBC Chicago.
👀 Flashback: Earlier this year, Indiana lawmakers passed a law that created a new commission to look for ways to attract a professional sports franchise to Northwest Indiana.
- "I hear there are some teams in Chicago that are named after some animals … that are still trying to figure out where they're going to live," Rep. Earl Harris (D-East Chicago) said at the time he introduced the legislation.
Reality check: Warren insisted he wasn't using The Region as leverage to bring Illinois back to the table on incentives, but one lawmaker from Northwest Indiana isn't so sure.
- Maybe it's finally happening, said Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso), "or, one more time they're using us as a bargaining chip."