New Delhi, June 6 -- The statement from George McCaskey and Kevin Warren arrived Thursday morning with the declarative confidence of a franchise that has already made up its mind. The Chicago Bears' board of directors had voted. Hammond, Indiana, would get a world-class stadium. Northwest Indiana would be transformed. Chicagoland, the two men wrote, would be brought together.

none of it happens without the permission of 24 other NFL owners.

The Bears have taken the most consequential organizational step yet in their yearslong search for a home beyond Soldier Field, formally directing their development efforts toward a site near Wolf Lake in Hammond - roughly 20 miles from downtown Chicago. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun celebrated on X, asking...