Bears' Board of Directors Votes to Further Indiana Stadium Development Project

The Chicago Bears are one step closer to potentially moving from Soldier Field to a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana.

The team's board of directors voted Thursday to advance their stadium development project in Hammond, the Bears announced Friday.

"We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago," Bears chairman George H. McCaskey and president and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement.

This marks the first time the Bears have held a vote on a specific stadium site, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.

According to Schefter, one source told him: "There is more work to do but barring anything very strange, it's a done deal."

ESPN's Courtney Cronin added that the Bears leaving the state of Illinois is not yet "a done deal."

That contrasts when Hammond mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said earlier this week he felt Illinois was "out of the picture" for the Bears.

"Indiana did what they were asked to do. Illinois couldn't do what they were asked to do. So I'm confident the Bears are going to choose Hammond," McDermott said, per Dan Carden of the Northwest Indiana Times.

McDermott added he is expecting a decision from the Bears within 30 days.

Warren said in March the Bears were considering Hammond and Arlington Heights as locations for the new stadium.

The latest news comes after Illinois lawmakers closed out their spring legislative session without approving a late bill that would have allowed Arlington Heights to establish a public stadium authority.

This authority would own the new stadium and help the Bears avoid paying property taxes, per NBC 5 Chicago's Matt Stefanski, Mary Ann Ahern and Paris Schutz.

The Bears said in a statement after Illinois' measure failed to pass the franchise planned to "finalize our evaluation of both Arlington Heights and Hammond, and remain on the late spring/early summer timeline that we have previously communicated."

A bill authorizing funding for a taxpayer-backed stadium authority in Hammond was already passed by the Indiana legislature and signed into law by governor Mike Braun in February.

Indiana is also offering the Bears up to $1 billion in incentives to move to Indiana, per NBC 5 Chicago's Alex Dvorak.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker said Monday his state hasn't passed similar legislation in part because he "wasn't willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money in order to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team," per WBEZ Chicago's Mitchell Armentrout.

The Bears said in Friday's statement the Bears site had yet "to be selected." McDermott discussed a possible site near Wolf Lake in an appearance this week on 104.3 The Score.

Should the Bears approve a stadium in Hammond, McDermott said construction could begin as soon as this summer. For now, the Bears remain under lease at Soldier Field until 2033.