Senators pitch plan to land Chicago Bears stadium in Iowa

News, Sports

February 10th, 2026 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) – Seven Republicans in the Iowa Senate say they have a game plan that could lure the Chicago Bears to move the historic N-F-L franchise to Iowa. Senator Scott Webster of Bettendorf says the Quad Cities would be the most logical spot to build a new stadium.

The Bears’ ownership has talked for years about building a new stadium, with the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights the preferred location, but a bill moving through Indiana’s legislature would pave the way for a publicly financed stadium for the Bears in Gary, Indiana. The bill introduced in the Iowa Senate would make an N-F-L stadium eligible for Iowa’s Major Economic Growth Attraction or MAGA Program — with property tax breaks and refundable tax credits for the initial investment and the new jobs created, along with refunds of sales taxes paid during construction.

Webster, who was born in 1980, was alive when the Bears won the Super Bowl 40 years ago and is serving as a spokesman for the group pushing this plan.

Webster, though, closes his pitch with the title of the Bears’ Fight Song.