Before the team’s Monday Night Football season kickoff, Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren beared down on the idea of leaving Chicago for a new stadium in Arlington Heights, declaring the “Bears belong to more than just Chicago.”

“For more than 50 years, Soldier Field has been our home. But so too were Wrigley Field, Memorial Stadium, and Staley Field,” Warren wrote in his annual letter to season ticket holders. “We hope Arlington Heights will soon join that list — not because of its steel, brick, or glass, but because it will house what is irreplaceable to this franchise: You. Our Fans. Our Family.”

The open letter was released just hours before Monday’s home opener — with the Bears on the national television broadcast stage — and as Warren tries to gin up support for a long-term property tax break that would pave the way to the team breaking ground at its 326-acre Arlington Park property in the Northwest suburbs.

Warren said the 106-year-old franchise is at a “pivotal juncture” to build a new domed stadium in Arlington Heights, and now is the time to finalize plans in hopes of hosting a Super Bowl as soon as 2031.

After purchasing the former racetrack for $197.2 million in February 2023, the NFL club “thoroughly evaluated” other potential stadium sites within Chicago city limits, but none were “viable,” Warren said.

More than half of Bears’ season ticket holders live within 25 miles of the Arlington Heights site, which would be easily accessible by Metra train, “or a short drive with ample parking and tailgating,” Warren said.

“Moving outside of the city of Chicago is not a decision we reached easily,” Warren wrote. “This project does not represent us leaving, it represents us expanding.”

He reiterated the new stadium would require no money from the state for construction, but he did renew an ask for “property tax certainty and a fair contribution toward essential infrastructure” on the surrounding site.

Warren’s letter follows public comments he made a month ago directed at state lawmakers, who are preparing to return to Springfield for the fall veto session in October. Warren had said the team wouldn’t be able to move forward with its envisioned suburban stadium unless legislators approve so-called megaproject legislation, which would allow the Bears to negotiate with local taxing authorities like school districts over the amount of taxes that should be paid on the site for up to 40 years.

Gov. JB Pritzker and top legislative leaders have been resistant to any of the Bears’ requests for state help since 2022, whether it’s been the tax break at a privately-funded suburban stadium, or subsidies for a publicly-owned Chicago lakefront stadium south of Soldier Field.

At a press conference in Wheeling last month, Pritzker did leave open the door to supporting the megaproject bill — which could also apply to other big construction developments statewide — though he’s repeatedly said he prefers the Bears remain in Chicago.

Meanwhile, Bears brass have continued weekly meetings with Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia and Village Manager Randy Recklaus. Warren said Monday he is optimistic about working with the village to obtain the necessary approvals.

“Since our inception, we have played under different names, with different uniforms, in different cities, at different venues,” Warren wrote. “That said, one critical component has remained constant — the Chicago Bears belong to more than just Chicago. We belong to the entire state of Illinois. The Nation. The World.”

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