How do Bears feel about a possible move? Depends who you ask

Jim Hoff grew up on Ave. F in Chicago’s southeast side, not far from Wolf Lake across the state line.

Did he ever pause to think, “You know what, a Bears stadium would look really nice here?”

“We used to ride our bikes there,” he said with a smile. “Never would imagine there’d be a stadium.”

I don’t think he’s alone.

I talked to the 51-year-old Hoff, who was rocking a Chris Zorich jersey, and his teenage son, Jimmy, while in line for Chicago-style hot dogs in Soldier Field’s open-air atrium before the Bears’ lone home preseason game Saturday. Rain poured from the sky before the game, proof of concept for the team’s plans to build a domed stadium either in Hammond, Ind., or Arlington Heights, Ill.

Hoff lives in southwest suburban New Lenox these days. He’s not a season-ticket holder, and for the few games he attends each year, he said he’s amenable to driving to either potential stadium location. Still, like many fans I talked to Saturday, and throughout this interminable stadium process, he’s skeptical of the Hammond plan.

“I’ve got to think cooler heads prevail and they find a way to stay somewhere in Illinois,” he said. “But I don’t know. You never know.”

On Thursday, Bears chairman George McCaskey and president/CEO Kevin Warren made their annual training camp address to reporters, and every single question was about the stadium. I would call this years-long process a “debacle,” but Warren said it’s all been a “learning opportunity.” While the Bears’ product on the field is positive these days with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, the team’s off-field pursuits are a cause for conflict, confusion and consternation.

So before Saturday’s 34-10 preseason win over the Cleveland Browns, I walked around and talked to some fans about their feelings on their never-ending story.

Where should they go?

“Keep it!” said Cheryl Plaxico, a Homewood native at the game with her teenage son, about Soldier Field. “We need to stay here!”

She goes to a couple of games a year and said if the Bears do have to move — and they don’t, really — she’d be fine with Hammond because it’s closer to her house.

“Hammond is still like Illinois,” she said.

Others disagree.

“Indiana’s a no,” said Joanna Garcia, who was sitting in the United Club with her husband, Steven. They live near Midway Airport, also not far from Hammond, but they were both adamantly opposed to the idea of the Chicago Bears playing in Indiana.

“I mean, at that point, you might as well just stay at Soldier Field,” Steven said. “Indiana sucks. We’re working in South Bend, and we pass by Hammond. There’s nothing there for us.”

“If they go to Indiana, I’m never seeing a Bears game again,” said Bryan Ramirez, a 28-year-old Berwyn cop, who was at the game with his friend and co-worker Alberto Hernandez. Both were wearing Caleb Williams jerseys.

Hernandez wouldn’t go that far.

“It’s good to know Roger Goodell’s on our side though,” he said of the report that the NFL commissioner was meeting with Illinois politicians this week. “He’s out here speaking to the statesmen for us. So hopefully he gets it done and leaves them here. Even Arlington wouldn’t be bad. I’d prefer Arlington over Indiana.”

“Arlington, I would go,” Ramirez said.

“I live in Riverside, and it’s probably closer to go to Hammond than Arlington Heights, but I don’t want to go there,” said Pat Kearney, a longtime season ticket holder who was wearing a Brian Piccolo jersey and a Zubaz-style hat.

Sometimes it’s simple. People have state pride. Kearney referenced the Bears’ fight song, which declares them the “pride and joy of Illinois.”

Most of the fans I talked to said they’re not too annoyed about the stadium chatter. Of course, I was speaking to fans who chose to go to a preseason game in the rain, so they might be more even-keeled than the ones who rage on Twitter/X every time this situation is broached. But those fans count too.

“We feel that anxiety, we feel that stress,” McCaskey said Thursday. “We talked about this in March. It’s going to require an adjustment. But when I’ve driven that route, other than a sign telling me so, I wouldn’t know that I’ve just crossed the state border. And as Kevin said, once people see the building, once they get in there, once they understand that our top priority from day one was a world-class stadium experience, we think we’ll make that adjustment. We think Bears fans are up for that.”

McCaskey, who I spotted taking pictures and talking to fans in the atrium, disputed that people would be upset about the team moving across state lines. I would say the same thing if I were trying to keep some leverage over Illinois politicians.

Despite the bad weather and the obstacles getting in and out of Soldier Field, most fans I talked to would actually like the Bears to stay in Chicago, where they’ve played for more than a century at Wrigley Field and on the lakefront. Perhaps it wasn’t a representative sample, but I think many people are comfortable with the known. The Bears have always played in Chicago. There is also a vibrancy to playing in an open-air stadium in the city. A soulless suburban dome aimed at placating wealthy fans would lose some of that energy.

The ideal situation would have included the team, city and state not screwing up the renovation of the stadium just two decades ago. Soldier Field shouldn’t be so outdated. But that’s not reality, which fans seem to accept.

In the atrium, I talked to Arnie Holland, a luxury cabinet maker who lives in Wheaton. After more than 15 years on a waiting list and paying for a personal seat license, he finally got four season tickets this season. He turns 60 in September, so not a bad birthday present considering the expectations for this year’s team. He said the value of his tickets is tailgating and spending time with family and watching the team he loves, win or lose.

“I would love for them to stay in the city somehow, but I also understand maybe the money’s not there to support that,” he said. “I would like for them to stay in Illinois, but wherever they go, I go. So if they do go to Indiana, I’m going to go.”

The Bears will certainly lose season ticket holders if they move to Hammond or Arlington Heights, and not just because of geography or state pride. Plenty of fans don’t want to pay for another PSL. Holland, a superfan, realizes this will be his reality.

Holland said he prepaid for his PSL back in 2013. So if and when the Bears do move, he’ll likely have to pay for another one.

“My attorney warned me about it,” he said, “and I’m like, they’re never gonna move out of Chicago. But now here we are, 13 years later. I’ve heard of numbers … for comparable tickets for me, it’s going to be like 50 grand for two. So I told my wife we’d probably start saving now.”

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