Chicago Bears just flipped-flopped with Illinois on stadium project: Report

It turns out Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson didn’t just come out of left field to renew focus on the city keeping the Chicago Bears.

Per Justin Laurence of Crain’s Chicago Business, the Bears and Chicago’s top attorneys had “several” meetings in April and May about staying in the city. Chicago claims the discussions were about the Bears building the new project on the lakefront.

“Bears confirm “meetings” (plural), but say they’re confidential and primarily about the team’s lease at Soldier Field. IL lawmakers caught in the middle,” Laurence posted on X.

The meetings happened at the same time the Bears have been urging the Illinois House and Senate to pass and amend a megaprojects bill that would help the team build at the site in Arlington Heights.

Senator Bill Cunningham told Laurence that the news that the Bears were in discussions with Chicago has “eroded the progress” the team had made in getting Chicago politicians to support the project at Arlington Heights.

The Bears told Cunningham they had one meeting with the city, though the team didn’t disclose that fact with other lawmakers.

“The first disclosure of the meeting was when Johnson visited Springfield 2 weeks ago,” Laurence posted. “The Bears confirmed at least one meeting to Cunningham at the time, but other legislators told him the Bears denied meeting with the city at all.”

The Chicago Bears flip-flop again