NFL commissioner visits Arlington Heights, fueling Bears stadium hopes

Yes, that was NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell getting a tour of the spacious Arlington Park property with Bears Chairman George McCaskey and President/CEO Kevin Warren over the weekend, sources close to the team’s stadium project confirmed Tuesday.

But it was a suburban dad and Bears fan turned citizen journalist — and now, even a bit of an overnight local celebrity — who had the eyewitness scoop after he posted pictures of the Saturday afternoon meeting in Arlington Heights that went viral on social media.

“You’re in the right place at the right time. That’s all it was. All I knew is what I stumbled upon was newsworthy. So I felt kind of an obligation to share it,” said Gregory Berger, who posted the pics to Bluesky after seeing Goodell, McCaskey and Warren around 1:30 p.m. Saturday on the other side of the fence from the Arlington Park Metra station.

Berger had just dropped off his son and a friend at the train station after they scored tickets to the Bears’ big playoff game Saturday night at Soldier Field.

The 26-year Arlington Heights resident has been hopeful for the NFL franchise’s long-contemplated relocation to the 326-acre former racetrack the team purchased in 2023. His hopes were raised after seeing the trio and a still-unidentified fourth person on the property hours before the game Saturday.

Berger said he found the whole scene to be unusual because he usually only spots a lone security truck patrolling the site.

McCaskey was holding paperwork — perhaps blueprints? Berger guesses — as they were talking, pointing and ostensibly surveying the sprawling site.

“When I saw it, I hoped it meant that Arlington Heights was in play for a new Bears stadium,” Berger said. “I’m a lifelong Bears fan, and I just think it’d be awesome to have a stadium in my backyard. In fact, I’ve even told my wife that when I retire, I’d love to be an usher there. I mean, to think that there could be a Super Bowl potentially walkable from my house — it’s just crazy.”

But while Goodell and Bears brass visited Arlington Heights Saturday, it’s also true they boarded their black SUVs to visit at least two other possible stadium sites in Northwest Indiana, sources confirmed. The team is eyeing a site in Hammond — on the other side of Wolf Lake from Chicago’s Hegewisch neighborhood — and in Gary, where Mayor Eddie Melton is pitching the area around the Hard Rock Casino.

Warren’s announcement in recent weeks that the organization is expanding its stadium search across state lines didn’t get a full-throated endorsement from local Bears backers like Berger — certainly not like the “Go Bears!” he shouted in the team president’s direction Saturday.

“I would be really bummed to see them not only not come to Arlington Heights, but also to leave the state,” Berger said. “I think (it) would be a real bummer.”

Team officials continued their exploration of the Hoosier State option Monday by sending fans a survey to gauge opinions about a stadium and mixed-use entertainment district there.

The Indiana site “would offer convenient access from major roads and highways, with planned investments to support efficient arrival, parking and departures,” an introduction to the survey states.

Up to 15,000 parking spaces — designed to support tailgating — would sit adjacent to the stadium, while only 6,000 spaces are available next to Soldier Field, the survey notes.

It would create “one of the most robust gameday tailgating environments in the NFL,” the survey says.

Fans are asked what they think of a potential Indiana stadium — on a scale from “very positive” to “very negative” — whether they’d be interested in purchasing season tickets there, and how much they’d be willing to spend for various seating sections.

The team sent season ticket holders a similar questionnaire last July after formally reshifting the stadium redevelopment focus back to Arlington Heights from the Chicago lakefront.

“As we have said, we are actively evaluating opportunities across the wider Chicagoland region for a new stadium,” the team said in a statement this week. “The survey is a standard and important step in that process, helping us understand fan interest, accessibility and experience preferences as we assess the feasibility of a potential stadium in Northwest Indiana. We continue to do the work required to make informed, responsible, long-term decisions for our fans and our organization.”