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Da Bears May Be Moving to Indiana
By Matt Schultz
Published:
After five-plus years of trying to get a new stadium built, the Chicago Bears announced they’re moving forward with plans to make Hammond, Indiana their new home:
Most of the reactions I’m seeing to this are negative – it’s either Chicagoans upset about the news, or fans of rival NFC North teams roasting the new “Hammond Bears.” I’ll shoot you straight, here: I think these takes are dumb as hell. Not that I don’t understand where they’re coming from, I guess. I get it. Solider Field is an iconic stadium. For Bears fans, it’s tough to see their team leave its home of 55 years, and watching them move to a new state altogether adds insult to injury. I hear that. But my counter is… What’s the big deal?
Do you really think the Chicago Bears will become less-Chicago-Bears-ish because their stadium is 30 minutes south of downtown? The South Side of Chicago shares a border with Hammond. It’s right there. So who cares? Plenty of other pro teams do this. Here’s a big list:
Teams That Don’t Play Their Games in the City They’re Named After
- The New York Giants play in East Rutherford, NJ
- The New York Jets play in East Rutherford, NJ
- The Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington, TX
- The San Francisco 49ers play in Santa Clara, CA
- The Buffalo Bills play in Orchard Park, NY
- The Las Vegas Raiders play in Paradise, NV
- The Washington Commanders play in Landover, MD
- The Los Angeles Angels play in Anaheim, CA
It’s fine. All those teams are doing fine. The fans are doing fine. No one is affected by an arena’s zip code, as long as it’s close enough. So let’s all use this as a reminder that city borders are meaningless. They were drawn up a thousand years ago for tax reasons that are boring and no one cares about. The Chicago area is the Chicago area. There will be plenty of Bears fans at the new spot. And for local readers, let’s keep this in mind next time there’s a rumor a Philly team wants to move to Camden. That’d be fine too. It’d be closer to my house, which is a net good.
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com