CHICAGO (WRTV) -- Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren announced at a press conference Thursday that the Bears are focused on building a "world-class stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, Indiana.The Bears curren t home is Soldier Field in downtown Chicago, where they have played since 1970. The Bears asked the Chicago city government to help fund a new stadium before exploring the possibility of leaving Chicago and Illinois and moving to Hammond.The Indiana legislature gave the necessary approvals for an NFL stadium to be built in Hammond in this year's legislative session. Thursday was the first time the team declared an intention to move to the Hoosier state."We want to make sure we get this right," Warren said at Thursday's press conference. "Even though we have had occasional meetings with the state of Illinois, our sole focus at this point in time is working a world-class stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, Indiana."Warren said the team is exploring sites in Hammond for the new stadium and found the Lost Marsh site just east of the Indiana Illinois border to be a viable site, but further study showed another option."We are working very hard to make sure that we build a holistic environment in Hammond so that when we looked at the Lost Marsh site, we were able to discover the opportunity at the Wolf Lake Terminal site, we thought if we could cohesively bring those together and just make sure the entire area comes together from a mixed-use standpoint, it would even be better," Warren said.The team has had discussions with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Warren said, but the state has not given the team a written offer for a new stadium. He said Hammond having a viable site and possibly a second site that can merge with that one put the team's focus on moving to Hammond.Prof. Mark Rosentraub, director of the University of Michigans Center for Sports Venues and Real Estate Development, said it now looks increasingly likely the Chicago Bears will move to Hammond. He worked under former Indianapolis mayors Bill Hudnut and Stephen Goldsmith to renegotiate the Colts' leases and helped lead the planning for what became Lucas Oil Stadium.Rosentraub said city leaders need to immediately address two major questions: the economic cost-benefit of the team coming, and how they plan to deal with game day traffic. He said the traffic issue could derail the whole deal if Hammond officials don't have a game plan."What was hypothetical is becoming possible, and now the question for Indiana to ask is, 'Is that true?' Are we about to enter the red zone?'" he said. "Somebody has to show the state of Indiana how are you going to get ten thousand cars in and out. It's that simple."Rosentraub said those traffic management issues need to be addressed publicly. In addition, he said Hammond leaders need to provide a full economic cost-benefit analysis, including how they plan to fill a mixed-use development proposed for the Bears complex given the city's demographic challenges. Census data shows Hammond's population has fallen by nearly 3% since 2020, after falling by about 3.6% between 2010 and 2020.Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, whose district includes Hammond, told "News 8" based on his conversations with city leaders, those plans are in place. He said the planned extension of the South Shore Line could help as well. He said at this point, he puts the probability the Bears move to Hammond at roughly seven in ten, and that probability will get higher as the year drags on with no counteroffer from Illinois.Gov. Mike Braun late Thursday afternoon said he also feels Hammond's chances are good."Since they now know that's what their focus is on, they're not up against the gun timewise," he said. "They were getting a little panicked when the state of Illinois, five and a half years, wasn't doing anything. It's moving fairly quickly with us. It's on schedule. To describe it using a football term, in the red zone."Warren declined to provide a decisionmaking timeline and Rosentraub said it's hard for him to guess how long a final decision might take. Randolph said he suspects the Bears will announce a final decision in October or November. ...read more read less