Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Adam Hoge: Bears aren't bluffing about potentially moving to Indiana (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris were joined by CHGO host Adam Hoge to discuss the Bears taking a key step forward in their vision to build a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana. In Hoge’s mind, the Bears are on the “half-yard line” in their stadium discussions with Indiana. After that, Rahimi and Harris opened up the phone lines for Score callers to sound off on the Bears’ stadium saga.

This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. So we have this information, according to a source familiar with the Bears Stadium situation. They confirmed the post on X from Matt Hill. Matt Hill posted this at 9-11 in the morning. He is the deputy chief of staff for communications to Governor Prisker saying that the Bears leaders requested the ILGA pause the hearing to make further tweaks to the infrastructure bill and he also added this morning we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and

ignoring Illinois so we've gotten that confirmed yet again and according to a source familiar with the situation there is an agreement that things are moving in the right direction that there's an understanding about language tweaks to the bill that need to be finalized and that the house is waiting to hear back from bears leadership so that doesn't sound like it's been tabled at all it sounds like this is negotiation as part of a bill. No, I've always said, this is negotiation, all of this. And unfortunately for Indiana, here's how I feel about this. Lela, you've seen this movie that I had to go see in the theater, and I did not want

to go see it. And I was like, why do I have to go see it? It's called The Notebook. Are you familiar with it? Yes. So in the Notebook, it's a love story, you know, spoiler alert, starring Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams. and Rachel McAdams' family doesn't want her to be with him.

And what happens is he... Doesn't want her to be with Ryan Gosling. Yeah, doesn't want her daughter to be with Ryan Gosling. And Ryan Gosling goes away and Ryan Gosling is living with this other woman. And here comes Rachel McAdams character back into the fray. And remember, Ryan is living with another woman. She comes. He basically leaves the woman.

And the woman says, like, oh, I've heard her. heard about you. I knew about you. He never forgot about you. Are you describing the meme of those two people walking together, the guy and the girl, and it's like her versus the girl you told her not to worry about. It's the girl in the red dress walking on the left side, facing the other direction. Listen, in this

scenario, I believe that Ryan Gosling is being played this part by the Bears, and that woman that he was living with while he was not with Rachel McAdams' character is being played by Indiana, and Rachel McAdams is Illinois. I think right

Now they're heavy and hot with Indiana. But guess what? They're probably going to come back to Rachel McAdams in Illinois and build in Arlington Heights. That's probably so Indiana is a mean timer in this situation. Not so much things up here. But you know, she was with another dude also. Yeah, but we didn't take that dude. No one watching that movie took that dude that Rachel McAdams character with was with seriously.

The moral of the story is don't cry at the end of the movie. That's the moral. Let's go to our hotline and bring it a reporter. who has been a part of this saga, although Adam is not as dramatic as anybody in the notebook. I bet I haven't seen the notebook, though. I bet he has too, but he's just more practical.

Adam, Hogue of the Hogan John's podcast. Hi, Adam. How are you? The notebook is phenomenal. Anybody who says otherwise is just wrong. But don't cry at the end. Like,

it's hard not to. Yeah, it's emotional experience. As it's been emotional, too, with what's been going on with the Bears. Exactly. State Illinois. I mean, there's some real connections here, I think. And so I say that, like, I understand all this news that's happening overnight and into

the day in the canceled meeting with Illinois. But I just feel like the preference from the Bears is to build in Arlington Heights. And this is just another step trying to show leverage. But I also think there is the possibility. And it's a real one that they could pivot to Indiana if they don't get what they feel like they need to get from Illinois. How do you see that? Well, let me be very clear. They have pivoted to Indiana. The pivot has happened.

I mean, this is, now, it's not done. But it's close to done. I mean, they're at the half-yard line. As long as they don't run any of those weird Matt Nagy shotgun runs and fail to get in or maybe snap the ball through Cole Komet's legs last year over. the head of Kyle Monungai. As long as something weird like that doesn't happen, this thing is headed towards Indiana right now.

If you watch this Ways and Means Committee meeting where they amended Senate Bill 27 in Indiana today, and it was 24-0, but it was everybody who spoke at this spoke as if it was done, including the speaker, as the bears are coming to Indiana. Now, the governor put out a statement, governor in Indiana now I'm talking about put out a statement basically saying you know they still got a

the framework of the deal is there. It's a great deal for the bears so there really shouldn't be any holdups. I mean that's the one of the biggest difference is here between Indiana and Illinois is that this is a very team friendly deal for the bears. I was almost surprised to hear today them say that the bears are going to put two billion towards this in Indiana. But you know, if they are, that's even more reason for why this should get done because that's, that's, that helps the state of Indiana on their end of all of this as well. What really just needs to be finalized, I think, is the actual location near Wolf Lake in, in Hammond, which they know that it hasn't really been quite put on a map for the rest of us yet. And then just the due diligence that is necessary, both the team

and the governor of Indiana today in their statements, their respective statements indicated that that is still a last hurdle, you know, the actual site, the due diligence to know that, hey, this is viable to actually put a mega project. And that, of course, goes beyond just the stadium site. There's the issues of the Indiana toll road, which is going to help fund this project. That was also part of the news this morning in Indiana. And like, what happens with the skyway where it costs $16 just one way to go through there right now? If you're coming from the city, you know, there's a lot of questions that need to be answered from that standpoint. Yeah, that's it. And the tolling, the toll road was a new development. Governor Pat Quinn, Adam Hogue, he referred to it on with us earlier today on our show. And while I understand that the intent is there from the state of Indiana, there's still a lot of logistical questions as you just brought up that remain to be answered. And that's what makes this difficult is the process, if you start from scratch on the Indiana side, even though they've made a lot of progress in a short amount of time, there's still a lot of questions that have.

have to be asked. Like, for example, what is the delta, the difference of the amount between what the bears are willing to put forward, which has been the same on both states' discussions, $2 billion for both Illinois and Indiana? Well, we still don't exactly know where the money is coming from outside of the bears on the Illinois side and how much of it Indiana is going to put up. You know, the difference is, I think, if Indiana puts up a slight bit more than just what is happening on the Illinois side for the infrastructure. If Illinois puts anything toward the actual stadium, that becomes a more favorable deal from a monetary standpoint for the bears.

Yeah, I mean, look, the deal is going to be more favorable for the bears in Indiana. I think, but part of the, part of the issue here is like this morning, the, as their list, they were very clear in Indiana today how they're going to fund it. I mean, from bond issuance to a Hammond tax to repay it, they already have the blueprint from Lucas Oil Stadium. It's very similar to how they funded Lucas Oil Stadium, which has been very successful down there. They're going to renegotiate the lease with the Indiana toll road to help repay for the infrastructure that will be needed in Hammond. There's a food and beverage tax that'll go in in Lake County, Indiana, as well as a 5% in-keepers tax. I mean, all of this stuff was laid out in a way that I could easily take notes right here in this notebook and relay it to you guys.

And like, that's just not what's happening in Illinois when these, like, they might be having these discussions, I'm sure, but none of it. It just continues to stall. And I think even in the last 24 hours, and this is something I wanted to bring up with you guys. Like, it's very convenient of Matt Hill, the spokesperson for the governor's office today to come out and be like, Illinois was ready to move this bill forward, which he put in a tweet. and he said this morning we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois. Well, my understanding is the team gave the governor's office a heads up last night that this was happening this morning with Indiana. So there continues to be political posturing. The governor spoke yesterday publicly. He was asked directly that question if Illinois was ready to move the

bill forward. And he didn't say that. He just said progress was being made. And he referenced somebody else's report in saying that that was pretty much accurate, that progress was being made. Like, it could have come out yesterday and said, yes, we're ready to make this happen. Let's get it done. And that might have changed the tune in all this. The reality is the bill that was going to be discussed this morning in this meeting in Illinois that got canceled, it even has a sponsor on it from Arlington Heights. That's not even part of the discussions from my understanding. So the point I'm getting at here is everything on the Illinois side, is messy. It's not clear. You watch this, the stream of what happened in Indiana this morning,

and it's very clear. And everybody's on the same page and it passes 24-0. They're literally cracking jokes about how efficient Northwest Indiana is in all this compared to Indianapolis, downstate. I mean, some of the politicians in Indianapolis were like, man, we got to learn from you guys because you guys get right to the point and get stuff done. So there's a lot to overcome here from the Illinois side where it's just been messy and messy like pretty much every step of the way. Well, you just mentioned a lot of new taxes for the taxpayers of Indiana, Adam, when you, when you talked about how they're going to pay for this. So the list when you consider food and beverage tax, tollway tax, Inkeeper. Possibly Skyway. Yeah, hotel tourism tax,

however you want to say it, like various states have various, various comments about it. They title it different ways. Inkeeper hotel tax. That's a bevy of new taxes. It's my understanding that the state of Illinois didn't want to have a lot of new taxes and they're not as flexible in the tax structure. Is that what your understanding is? In a broad sense, yes.

I mean, and I think that that's been, it hasn't been discussed as specifically as Indiana obviously did laying it all out on the table this morning. But I think in general, if you follow Governor Pritzker's messaging every step along the way, he's like, you know, while this could bring a lot of boom and jobs and all this to the state of Illinois, you know, he wants to make sure that it makes sense for the Illinois taxpayers, you know, but that's normal political jargon that he keeps repeating. And you can appreciate it. Obviously,

no one wants to be paying more taxes. You know, as somebody that lives in Lake County, in the Illinois, not necessarily in Cook County, but could be affected by this too, just because of how close we are to Arlington Heights. Yeah, I mean, I would expect that somewhere it to hit my taxes along the way, but it hasn't really been communicated specifically how. Adam, Hoag, joining us here on Rahimi Harrison, Grotie on 104. The score is the host of CHGO Bears and the Hogan Johns podcast.

Okay, Adam, you said you feel like this is at the half yard line. mean it's going to take some type of Pete Carroll Super Bowl error of judgment for Indiana not to cross the goal line on this to the Bears? Or does Illinois have a chance to mount some kind of comeback otherwise? So, I mean, this is a big question. Have you guys, I haven't been able to listen? Have you guys brought up what happened with the Patriots yet back in 1999? We have not. Okay.

So to give you a little background on that, in 1999, the Patriots and their own, Robert Kraft, they announced they were going to Hartford, Connecticut. They had a deal sign with the governor of Connecticut. They had the land, the stadium renderings. The deal was done. The deal was done. Now, that's why this last thing that was mentioned both by the governor of Indiana today and the bears in terms of the actual stadium site and doing their due diligence on that

to make sure it's feasible for all this matters because there was essentially that same stage right before construction was going to begin in Hartford, Connecticut. They found contamination in the site. So there was that issue. Meanwhile, though, Massachusetts put together a better offer and they reversed course and they went back to

Foxborough and they built the new stadium there, which is the stadium, the Patriots currently play in. So is it possible that, because that actually was even farther along than where this is, although this is pretty close to that, this point with what happened in Indiana today. Is it possible that all goes down? It is. There's two

problems though. And one goes back to what we just talked about. I just, I find it hard to believe Illinois, excuse me, is going to be able to come up with a deal that is better, a better financial deal than what Indiana is offering right now. I just, I just, I don't see how that's possible. The second two is more of the emotional component, all this. And in the reality is, and you're seeing it play out in real time this morning, too, with now the governor's office trying to say, hey, we were ready to do this. What happened? We're surprised. Like the political posturing in the back and forth and all this, there's a lot of repairing that I think needs to be done here between the Bears and the state of Illinois because this all should, what's happening now

should have been done at this exact time last year. I was in Indianapolis at the Combine, having these conversations and doing some reporting on all this. And the Bears were ready to put a shovel in the ground and they wanted it all passed by the end of May, which was the end of the spring session downstate in Springfield. And it didn't even come close to, they didn't even vote on it. It didn't even come to a vote. It just

stalled out. Same thing happened in the veto session in the fall. And then they were evidently told, which Kevin Warren put in the state, the open letter to fans back in December, that they weren't even going to be a priority in 2026. At some point, if you're

George McCasky and Kevin Warren, you get fed up and you say, all right, well, we got to build this thing. So we're moving on. And so not only do they have to reverse this thing, Illinois, I'm talking about from a financial standpoint, to give them a better deal, which I just find that hard to believe. There's an emotional standpoint, emotional component, all this, to bring the Bears back to the Illinois side. And I don't know if that's completely repairable at this point. There were signs of it in the last couple weeks, but I don't know, guys. It sure seems like the Bears have moved on at that. this point. Well, what was the incentive then to be in Illinois at all if you're illustrating it

that way for the Bears? If it's truly about the money and about the tax certainty, and I'm not trying to put you on the spot with it, but I mean, that's an actual question. No, it's fine. It's a fair question. And there's, and there's two, there's two answers from it. One, now financially, the benefit of the Arlington Heights property always has been that you can own this whole development, um, yourself and profit off it. Now, that remains to be. seen with this Indiana deal, how exactly that's going to work. When are the bears going to have actual full ownership of this? How is revenue going to be shared from, let's say they put a concert in there. It's going to have a roof so you can have concerts in January, February,

March, whenever when the weather's bad, all of that stuff is money that if you own the stadium goes in the owner's pockets and does not need to be shared with the players. In Arlington Heights, it's very clear. The Bears already own the property. How that's going to work out in Indiana, I don't know yet, but it does seem like the bears are going to benefit from it. Maybe they don't quite benefit the same way as quickly as they would in Arlington Knight. So that is one of the benefits of still being in Arlington Heights. Now, the second is the PR hit. We're all talking about this this morning. There's a lot of fans upset. They don't like the idea that the Bears will move out of the state of Illinois. I'm getting texts from people all over that are laughing at this. And

And there is that component of this too. And it's the component that so many, including myself, have found it hard to believe in recent weeks as this has continued to advance in Indiana. Would George McCasky actually leave the state of Illinois and is willing to take, you know, that that hit as moving a team that was founded in the state of Illinois, been in Chicago since the second year the franchise existed, to actually move them out. that seemed hard to believe. I think that part of it, though,

eventually people will get over as long as two things happen. A, that stadium better be awesome. Because if they end up building a dud of a stadium across state lines, that is going to be hard to overcome. And then two, they've got to keep winning. As long as the Bears win,

people will be fine with the fact that the stadium, which by the way is basically literally across the street from the city of Chicago, not just Illinois. That is Chicago across. the state line. It's not that far. Yeah, I agree with you. And the only thing, just based on what you just said, Adam, that I wanted to say is I, that's my problem in processing this, is I don't understand how Illinois can come up with a better financial deal, basic financial

deal for the Bears than Indiana without it being to the absolute detriment of Illinois taxpayers. I just can't envision that. Well, and that's it. It might be in the in the come rather than the initial bet. You know, it's in that, as Adam said, it's in the bears being able to profit off of events they hold there here as opposed to in Indiana where it might be a split. I should hope for them. It is. Yeah.

And again, I think that, look, they just won't come up with a better financial deal. And so they got to hope that, you know, the people that are still sitting here saying, you know, I think everybody can at least accept what I've been trying to report now for over a month, that this is not a bluff. This is way more than a bluff. the bears are willing to make this move. But is there something Illinois can do beyond just the finances to get the bears to change their minds back and realize that, hey, this team belongs in Illinois, even if you can get a better deal across state lines? And that's where I just feel like this morning, the biggest part of this is it's becoming more and more evident that the bears are willing to do this.

Adam Hogue, thanks again for joining us. If you want more of Adam's work, you can go to CHGO. and also the Hogan John's podcast. I know you just finished recording it. Yes, we did. And we got plenty more coverage coming your way. And there's a story up on all CHO with all this, including our reactions.

So appreciate you guys having me on. I hope everybody is a great day. Thanks so much, Adam. Now we've heard from a former governor. We've heard it from Adam Hogue. You've heard from us. Time to hear from you. 312-644-67-67 is our number.

We want your opinions on the latest developments in the legislative calendar of the state of Illinois and the Bears' intent on working with the state of Indiana next. Rahimi Harris and Grohne. Midday's tidal tunes on Chicago Sports Radio 12-4-3. I'm a Bears fan from birth, and I'd like to keep them in Illinois. I think the song says the Pride and Joy of Illinois, not of Hamidiviana. The Bears saga continues. That was the former Governor Pat Quinn who joined us in the 10 o'clock hour.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 104-3 The Score, and we got this information as well as the news develops this morning. Reportedly, according to Governor Pritzker's office, the Bears had postponed the ILGA meeting to make further tweaks to a bill. There was a revenue and finance committee set to discuss an infrastructure bill for Arlington Heights this morning. And then we got this a source familiar with the Bears Stadium situation, saying the tweet from Governor Prisker's office was accurate. Bears asked

to hold, aka, postpone the meeting. There's agreement that things are moving in the right direction. Minor language tweaks still have to be finalized, and the House is waiting to hear back from Bears' leadership. But then there is also the statement that the Bears gave, which is the passage of State Bill 27,

that is for Indiana. Hammond, Indiana would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date. We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. It goes on, but that is the general gist. So now we want your opinion, 312-644-67-67.

It all comes down to, Leila, at this point, I think, with the Bears and the discretion, we heard the report from Adam Hogue talking about relationships needing to be repaired based on what happened this time last year. But the Bears own Land in Arlington Heights. how much money are they saving by not building on that land versus building in Indiana? And what is the number the bears deemed to be, okay, it's okay that we didn't save that money by not doing it in Indiana? What's that number? That's what I want to know.

What's that number for the bears? Right. And as Adam Hogue illustrated, even though there's new taxes for the bill for state bill 27, does that mean that Indiana recoups some of its money up front by getting profit on events on the back end? that they hold. So that's the setup for this morning. We go to the phones. Ray, who should we start with here? Let's go to John in Naperville. Your first up on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Hi, guys. How are you doing? Great. How are you doing, John? Good, good. Actually, just really annoyed in listening to Pat Quinn, the interview with Pat Quinn, what was just really, really obviously missing in the length of or the list of people that Pat Quinn wanted to blame, lacking,

Were the politicians, both in Chicago back from the 2001 days when they agreed to renovate soldier field, the bears don't owe a dime of the outstanding money. That is the fault of politicians and why elections are important. Fast forward to last year. Adam Hogue just pointed this out that legislators were going to, didn't want to make the bears a priority? If they had done what they are doing today, last year, Indiana wouldn't be a contender here. This would be done. This is all the fault. of Illinois politicians in reality.

Now, I know the Bears strategically did things a little bit backwards and buying the land first, but I'm sorry, $120 million in real estate taxes? Come on, let's not even talk about SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Let's talk about the other two privately owned stadiums here in Illinois. What does really feel annually in real estate taxes? I believe Mark Gannis said it was about $2.5 million. The United Center?

Well, I think he said about $6.5 million. If it was 10, fine, but $120 million, that deal would never get done. So it's the politicians that have been dragging their feet, not the bears. They occupy the same position that they did a year ago. And if, again, if Illinois legislature said, we're going to make this a priority in 2025, Indiana wouldn't be a contender here. Thank you, John, for your call. We're continuing on the phones, 312, 644, 67, 67.

Evan, Franken O. Park. You're on Rehemi Harrison Grody. Hi, guys. Good to be honest. And I'm not crazy about this subject. I want to comment on two things. Who I'm sorry for? And a comment on what the former governor said. First, I'm sorry for the local politicians in Arlington Heights of the surrounding communities. Because I have a feeling five years down the road, what you're going to have on that site is a few e-commerce distribution centers with, coming in and out of their 24-7 and maybe a couple of strip malls with like second and third level fast food outlets and maybe a couple of nail powers. And what you're going to see is the tax revenue from that is going to be a lot less than even what was supposed to be paid by the bears under this tax certainty agreement.

And as far as what the governor's, former governor said, don't romanticize. George Hallis. George Hallis was loyal to people, but he knew the value of a buck. In fact, a lot of his ex-players would say he would nickels around like manhole

covers. So if he was given pulling in his wheelchair as fast as he could and sign the paperwork to get it. So, you know, don't romanticize the man. He was what he was. He was a, you know, one of the fathers of pro football of a buck.

Thanks, Frank. Yeah, not just that, but the other thing is people can change. Not only can people change, but the NFL now is not what the NFL was then. And at some point, you talk about being a multi-billion dollar business as the NFL and all of its teams are, then you understand that, yeah, there's a different way of managing that. In fact, that's why the McCassies have gotten so much flack of late, because it has been run like a small family business at times. Well, and frankly, George McCasky changed. Yes. They bought Arlington Heights and they're also talking

to Indiana. So it is difficult when you talk about the memory of what somebody would want because unfortunately that's yours and they don't have the agency if they're no longer with us to be able to change their mind if they should want to. 312-644-67-67 is our number. We go to Pete and Rockford. Hi,

Pete. How are you guys doing today? How are you? I'm fine. Thank you. I'm sick to stomach hearing all this stuff. I've been a long time Bears fans. And one of the things that I don't understand is, you know, we're here in the states going through all this turmoil. And our president, Kevin Warren, is having fun in Italy right now. It's kind of concerning. But one of the things that I don't understand is politically, why has it been so easy for Indiana to just make this plan, put this together and see the windfall that it could bring to the state? Why is this?

Illinois understanding what this project is bringing and what it could bring to our state financially. I don't understand. No, that's a good question. I think it goes back to a little bit of our discussion with Adam Hogue. In this scenario in Illinois, if the Bears already brought Arlington Heights, as they've mentioned, they get the proceeds from the events that happened there, you know, and Kevin Warren has talked about final fours and concerts and things of that nature. I think Indiana sees that and they're saying, okay, well, we want to put together a bill that possibly does this.

But we've already heard 12% stadium ticket tax, 5% late county innkeepers tax, potential 1% food and beverage tax. But then additionally, do the bears get to keep all that money from those events? Or will Indiana split some of the costs since they're putting it up up front? That seems to be one of the sticking points now. And I think the other thing, Pete, is when it's Indiana coming in, they're in a very different position than Illinois. because Illinois already had the bears. The bears exist, as it were, in Illinois, point-blank period. And Indiana understands they have to make a push to get them out of Illinois and bring

them to them. And so that's why they can offer all this stuff that, let's be honest, Illinois and its politicians, there was no rush. There was no impetus for them to rush anything. But now it's not just you and the bears. It's you and a competitor and the bears. Well, and so-fi gets brought up, but I want to say this. Number one, the taxing in California is completely different from the taxing in the state of Illinois.

I have paid both. Number two, property taxes are different because, again, the setup of how the state is funded is different. I will also say, though, that it's so fine. Stan Cronky put up the $5 billion note to build the stadium. So he didn't ask for that money. And if he had, he got turned down because the state had said no new money. California is next to Arizona, Oregon, and Nevada. It's a little different to be able to go to another state and say,

hey, are we going to have the Yuma Arizona Raiders or the Yuma, Arizona Rams, or a team that may have previously held, held their camp in California. It's a little bit of a different discussion. So all that is fair, and those are good questions. We continue on the phones, 312, 644, 67, 67. We go to Scott and Shorewood. Scott, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grody. Scott's jamming out over there.

Come on, Scott. All right, I think that was the first chords to a Nikki Minaj song. So Scott has issued his opinion, and it is musical. Keep it going. 3-1-2-644-67. Brian and Springfield, you're on Rhemi-Harrison Grody, we hope. That's correct. I can literally see the Capitol.

I can see it right now. No white smoke. So they haven't reached a deal yet, I guess. Hey, bad week for the governor. you got your cousin in the Epstein files and then you lose the bears. You got your bluff called, man. You can't dismiss the bears like they weren't going to go anywhere. All right.

Anytime you bring that up, we're going to continue unless it's regarding Steve Tisch and the Giants don't play here. 312, 6444, 67, 67. How about Ryan in Plainfield? Ryan, you're on the score. Hey, thanks for having me. So I know the McCaskies have a different financial. background and some of the other owners.

They don't have quite as deep pockets outside the world of football. But I think doesn't the NFL have other funding sources to help with stadium projects? And I would say the Illinois is definitely politically messed up enough. But I think we have a lot of other needs with pension issues and different things that putting money towards this is not the number one priority. So I do give credit to some of them for not just handing over tax breaks right away. but I say my TV works fine from my house and pass on the tax increases to those in Indiana, so I'm fine with it. Yeah, I appreciate that sentiment.

I think a lot of people, and even though you are one of the vocal ones who is expressing it on these airwaves, a lot of people feel that way because they don't go to Bears games, but they're Bears fans, and they're like wherever they play, as long as I can watch them, I'm cool. Yeah, that's how I feel. Although I've gone to big games, and they're also fun to attend as well. Ryan, thanks for your call. We continue on the phones. 312, 644-67.

Jill in Hampshire, Jill, you're on, Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Hi. So not a good deal for Chicago. This is not a good look, and it is not what is supposed to be happening. This is a debacle from the get-go because none of this should be rolling out the way it has. Most of these things should have been ironed out in the negotiation process. The purchase of the stadium should never have taken place without the tax issue being fully worked out with incentives. And furthermore, the bears cannot, period, cannot leave Chicago or the state of Illinois.

They cannot go to Indiana. that would be a terrible thing and no one wants that. So they either have to stay at Soldier Field or they have to move to Arlington Heights. The fact that even Indiana is coming into the conversation is not a good look. It's never going to happen. So this is a waste of time. Do you think the bears, I have a question. I'm sorry.

Do you think the bears, if they leave and go to Indiana, you're not going to follow them anymore? You're going to stop being a fan of the bears? There's a good chance, to be honest. It's a horrible look. It's a horrible look for the city of Chicago. It's a horrible look to move the bears out of Chicago, period, or out of the state of Illinois. And, yeah, it would turn off a good 50% of the fan base.

It just doesn't sit right that the bears in Indiana, no, that's not a good idea. All of this stuff should have been sorted out in negotiations. Kevin Warren dropped the ball majorly. This is becoming a huge waste of money and time. I agree with that last part. I don't think it was Kevin Warren's fault that the Bears bought Arlington Heights. Yeah, that happened before he was hired as president of the Bears. 312-644, 67, 67 is our number.

We have more calls to get to on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi Harris and Grody on 1043, The Score. We appreciate your texts and your phone calls. I have a confession about the text line, guys. Sometimes, oftentimes, when the texts are logged, we can't read them because they break them up on our text line because that's just the software. And we can't read them correctly or all because you have like four paragraphs out of order. And you didn't text them that way, but they just come in that way. so I'm sorry that we're not reading a lot of texts.

312, 64, 64, 67, is our number. People have been on hold. They want to talk about the Bears Stadium issue. The latest, we go to John on the south side. Hi, John. Hi, Leila. Hi, Marshall. What's up?

He's off today because he can't work all of the time. I got it. I got it. Okay, this is my point. I think I'm Team Chicago Bears, by the way, and I think they kind of got screwed for about, two years. They're wanting to build a stadium in Chicago. Well, first off, the other stadium in Arlington Heights, that was made by Ted Phillips. So I'm sure there's probably a lot of holes in

that whole purchase and stuff. And that's probably why there's a lot of issues. But anyway, what I want to say is they, I'm getting nervous now. I'm sorry, guys. It happens. It's just us. You don't even want to know about my morning where I practically tripped over myself many times. Okay, the bears have tried to go to Chicago many times, and it's not working. Also, the taxpayers, repeatedly, I've heard on the airways, they don't want to pay for the bears. They don't want to pay for the bears. They don't want to pay for the bears. This is all of Chicago.

Hey, guess what? We're out of here. Now you can cry about it while they're in Indiana. Have a good way, guys. Love you. I mean, succinctly put. Love you, John. You did great.

put though, right? Like, it's, it's, and it's understandable from both sides. I understand why taxpayers don't want to pay for another stadium. And I understand why the bears are like, we want somebody to pay for our stadium. And it's, and it's not like they're the only ones who wanted somebody to pay for their stadium. That's been a thing. Yeah. Kids, state chiefs, Dallas Cowboys.

Go down the list. There's a lot of public stadiums, but the thing is, that's no longer in vogue. Okay, I did get this text because it's one line. 574. I'm sorry for you guys that you had an entire program ready to go today and now you're having to do this. And guess what? We'll keep doing it because it's your money. It's the team you talk about and that's our responsibility. As much as I'm like, okay kids, kids, stop fighting. Stop. But stop it. I will turn this car around. And now I think the car is being turned around. Somebody's turning around the car. Definitely exited to a rest stop where we're going to decide if we're going to proceed with the rest of the

trip. That is definitely where we are at this time. The rest of. That kills me. 312-644-67. How about Sean and Romeoville? Hi, Sean. That's first time calling your show. Thank you. Thank you for calling. Yeah, I'm home sick today. Usually I'm listening to you guys when I'm at school in my office, but you guys are like therapy for me sometimes. So cool to call.

You know, it's interesting. This doesn't really shake me up. the way I thought it would. I mean, I feel more apathy than anything. I think maybe they were moving to, like, Kenosha, you know, for obvious reasons that might bother me. But, you know, really as a fan, the Bears have just, they've been bad for so long or inconsistent for so long. I just want them to be good.

So, I mean, that's, I mean, I don't go to games much anyway, you know. I like watching them to come from home with home. But really, I just want them to be a really good football team. That's competitive and gives me a reason to watch every week. So, you know, someone might have mentioned this earlier, but I think, you know, I think the Giants actually play in New Jersey. Both the Giants and Jets play in New Jersey. Giants and Jets, yeah.

So, I mean, so that, you know, someone might have mentioned that earlier. But really, yeah, I just want them to be a really good football team. And I'm getting older, man. So, you know, I want them to be good and give me a reason to watch every Sunday and be good for a long time. So that matters to me a little bit more than where they play. I'll watch wherever. Thanks for taking my call.

Thank you, Sean, and thanks for listening to us, and we hope you feel better. Thanks for having us out at your office, too. That's great. Yeah, get well. And if you need to call out sick tomorrow, go ahead. It's Friday. Get yourself a four-day weekend. But here's the thing.

I don't think Sean is in the minority. No, I think Sean is in the stark. Stark majority. I think 75% or more people, maybe it's 80% of people. They care in that, oh, we would wish the Bears were in Chicago, but it's not going, My point is this. It's not going to stop your fandom. I don't believe you when you say, we're not going to do this.

Well, and similarly, take the emotion out of the money. And when you do that, that's when things get truthful. All emotion. The saying is don't let your money get mad. I don't want it to get happy, sad, glad, anything. Take the emotion out and just start doing the math. Does it math? We go to Mario and Hyde Park.

You're on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Hey, guys. How y'all doing? What's up, Mario? We're good. You know, I almost said it. Oh, I almost said, you know, go bears. I'm glad I didn't say that. Why not? You're the godfather.

I'm just thinking this morning, imagine the bears are consistently good, right up to the point where their leaf ends, and they go to Hammond or to another part of Indiana. And George McCasky has that albatross. around his neck of being the reason why the bears aren't in Chicago, because you know, as well as everybody that's listening to me knows, if the bears are good, those lakefront scenes are going to look better, that skyline is going to look better, knowing that they're leaving, and people are going to be like, don't leave, don't leave.

And it's going to be so emotional, and you just said take the emotion out of it, even if people are capable of taking the emotion out of it on February, whatever the hell day it is today, I don't know. If the day it's the last day, people are going to have that same kind of emotion that they do now or lack of. I think the Bears canceling that meeting today probably says if they canceled the meeting to be able to get it together to go back to Illinois and say this is it, this is what we want, then I think that's a good thing for the state and I think they'll stay. I'm in the minority. I'm pretty sure of it. I don't want them to leave.

Also, I don't go to football games anymore because Soldier Field is ridiculous. Either way, however this goes down, I think George McCasky has a real, real decision to make about legacy. If it means anything to him and the Bears leave, that might be the death mail of public opinion for him for the rest of his life and quite possibly the rest of that line of McCasky's. Have a good day, everybody. Mario, that may be a bargaining chip that we have not discussed enough. Thank you for your call. Very somber. I don't think I've ever heard Mario that somber.

But also truthful. And everybody, I don't know why I didn't see this until the 219 number texted us. Happy 219 day. It's the 19th of February, aka 219, aka also an Indiana, northwest Indiana area code. So that's pretty funny. I like the coincidence. But yeah, you're right. I wonder how much George McCasky's emotions play into this.

But here's the thing. When you're faced with a multi-billion dollar bill, that might change things for everybody. Everyone. So the money absolutely talks. We have so many calls. I think we're going to have to do another segment of calls at some way later in our show. I got the time figured out.

I got it all figured out. What time? 125. All right. Actually, Craig Wall from ABC 7 will be joining us. He just literally confirmed right now. Sorry, guys. Sometimes this just has to be done on the microphone with everybody

because that's life on a four-hour radio. Live radio. Yes. Then maybe 1245. Yes. We can touch back. 1245, everybody. Sorry about that.

We want to keep five on it at noon. Other things that aren't just the Bear Stadium, but also the Bear Stadium next. Have a good way, guys. Love you.