The Chicago Bears have provided fans with something of a tease as they announced their plans for a new development project that could see them move away from Soldier Field.

Stadiums have certainly been grabbing their fair share of the headlines during the summer, occasionally taking a lot of attention away from what has been happening on the field. 

The Washington Commanders for instance have been embroiled in something of a dispute when it comes to their stadium. Reports suggest that they could soon make a move away from Fedex Field, a place they have called home since the 1997 season, moving to Virginia having paid $100m for a plot of land there. The Cleveland Browns meanwhile have also explored options away from their current stadium at First Energy Field, with reports suggesting a new $1bn stadium could be in the works.

Meanwhile there have also been a couple of stadiums that have changed or sold their naming rights. The Pittsburgh Steelers, to a lot of people’s surprise, decided to change the name of their stadium from Heinz Field to Acrisure Stadium, with their AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals making a similar change as they now play at Paycor Stadium rather than Paul Brown Stadium. 

But just because the regular season is drawing near and the offseason is behind us, doesn’t mean that stadium news is going away soon, step forward the Chicago Bears.

Storied Soldier Field

The Bears have called Soldier FIeld home since 1971, but the stadium had been used for numerous one-off games and various other events since 1924 when it first opened. It has gone through numerous changes over the years, most notably the updates in 2002-2003 that forced the Bears to play games at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois to give it the more space-age look that it has now.

The stadium is the oldest in the NFL, and as with most things in life, it appears as though the time has come for the world to leave the past behind as the Bears are looking to move to a site in Arlington Heights, about an hour’s drive away from Soldier Field. 

The move has been in the works for some time now, with the Bears having purchased the land in 2021, but now it looks as if they’re about to take the next step in moving there.

A glimpse into the future

In a statement released yesterday, the Bears announced their vision for what would happen to the area if they were able to renovate on it, hinting that whilst moving there was an option, that they could instead decide to remain where they are and renovate Soldier Field instead, a case of hedging their bets as it were. And in the statement, they were able to provide a little look into how the stadium and the area around it might look:

Photos taken from ChicagoBears.com, courtesy of Hart Howerton

It sounds as if there is a long way to go before anything is officially official, but the wheels are certainly in motion. It will be interesting to see what other news comes out about it in the future, including more detailed images of what the stadium will look like.