Nothing Changed
Kevin Warren held his annual training-camp presser, said a lot of words, and refused to give a single date. We're writing that down.
By Dear Kevin Warren · 2026-08-13
Kevin Warren and George McCaskey held their annual training-camp press conference at Halas Hall today. Reporters asked good questions. Warren gave long answers. One of the beat writers in the room, ESPN 1000's Silvy, put it best: "Lots of info from Bears prez Kevin Warren on stadium but really nothing new."
That's the whole story, so let's not pretend otherwise.
What we already knew, said again
Focus is on Hammond, Indiana. No final decision has been made. Illinois has produced bills and votes, but Warren said it has not produced an offer the team can use. Due diligence at Lost Marsh is done; due diligence at Wolf Lake Terminal is ongoing. The team might combine the two sites. None of that is new. All of it was true in July.
George McCaskey did clear up one thing, on the record: "We'll be the Chicago Bears." Good. Somebody should have told the guy who spent Tuesday night telling 670,000 people otherwise — more on him below.
The line we're framing
Asked for a target date on breaking ground, Warren said this:
> "My wife told me about six months ago, don't give any more target dates. Just get the work done."
We want that on the record, dated, quoted exactly, because Kevin Warren has never once kept a date he's given. Not "shovels in the ground in 2025." Not "move dirt this year, break ground next year." Not the 2028 opening, then the 2029 opening, then the 2030 opening. Every date this administration has offered has slipped, and now the man himself is telling you he's been ordered to stop offering them.
We believe him. We also believe it won't last. Manufacturing urgency around a deadline is the one move in this playbook he's never abandoned, so the day Kevin Warren gives another target date, we're going to quote this paragraph right back at him.
Mark it: our deadline tracker already has one column for "timeline promised" and one for "what actually happened." As of today, the promised column reads: nothing, on advice of counsel. We'll update it the moment that changes.
The rumor that wasn't
The night before this presser, an account with no newsroom and no byline told a large audience the Bears had "a finalized stadium deal" landing with a name change built in. It was wrong on both counts, and by evening the account had said so itself: "I was duped." We're not naming names here — the lesson doesn't need one. A source that won't put a name on the record isn't a source. Wait for the room full of reporters asking real questions. That's what actually happened today, and it was, by design, nothing.
Updated as new dates get promised and broken.