Will Chicago Bears Change Team Name If They Relocate To Hammond?

Whenever an NFL team changes cities they usually take the name of the city or metro area that they're moving to. But with the Chicago Bears on the verge of moving an hour southeast to the city of Hammond, Indiana, will they adopt the name of their new home?

The answer is a pretty resounding no.

Appearing on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Indiana Governor Mike Braun said that while he's delighted to invite the Bears into his state, he has no expectation that the team will change their name. He considers them "the Chicago Bears" and believes it would be silly to call them anything else.

"No, no (we're not changing the name). That would be obtuse to think it would be the Hammond Bears. It's the Chicago Bears," Braun said bluntly.

Reactions

For some NFL fans it doesn't make sense to keep the name since the Bears aren't in Chicago or even the state of Illinois anymore. But others pointed out that the New York Jets and New York Giants haven't played anywhere in the state of New York for decades, so it's what they would expect.

"Nobody calls 'em the New Jersey Jets or the East Rutherford Giants. Chicago Bears will remain THE Chicago Bears," one user declared.

"Doesn't feel like the CHICAGO Bears anymore I can say that. Yeah Arlington isn't Chicago either but it's still in Illinois. Could live with that but crossing over the border makes it feel less and less like our team idk," wrote another.

"People have said 'I'm from Chicago' for generations despite not actually living in Chicago proper. We have a term for it. 'Chicagoland' and it most certainly includes Hammond. This is not some controversial new thing," a third wrote.

Of course, part of the Bears' willingness to even make the move in the first place probably came from a handshake agreement that they wouldn't be in any way compelled to change their brand identity as part of the move.

After over 100 years in Chicago, there truly wasn't any way the team was going to totally abandon its identity.

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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 5:43 PM.