The Chicago Bears are getting ever closer to moving to northwest Indiana after the state of Illinois is not giving the Bears' owners everything they want to stay put in or near Chicago. But Indianapolis Colts fans need not worry; the move would have little to do with the AFC South team.
The reason is that the Bears would seemingly move to Hammond, Indiana, a distance of about 30 miles, give or take. In fact, the NFC North football team would be moving so close to home that fans of that team won't have to make much of an adjustment in their travel time, if any at all.
More importantly for the Colts, Hammond is within a 75-mile radius of Chicago, and NFL teams have a right to advertise and sell the team within that distance. Meaning, the Bears have long been doing business in Hammond, whereas the Indianapolis Colts have not.
Potential Chicago Bears move won't have much to do with the Indianapolis Colts
The Colts don't purchase adverts in Hammond and don't have marketing representatives in that area of northwest Indiana, while the Bears have for many years.
Ultimately, the move would be one (the state of Illinois still has a chance to get back involved and make an offer to the Bears that owners can't refuse) that is more notable to football fans in general because of the novelty of the situation than in any real pragmatic sense.
Will there eventually be a rivalry between the two Indiana teams? Sure, and that's natural. But the financial competition between the teams is zero. Quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears will do the same business they have been doing, with maybe a bit more inroads into northwest Indiana, but not a more populated area than they already had dibs on.
The Colts, meanwhile, will control the great middle of the state. If any bragging rights are to be had, what's important to remember is the two teams met in Super Bowl XLI in 2007, a time when Peyton Manning was still QB1 for Indy, and the Indianapolis Colts beat the Hammond Bears 29-17.
The teams don't play in the same division, same conference, and historically have little in common. As for who makes money off the ads one hears on the radio, or sees on television or streaming, those will also continue to be separate. In the end, the Bears might as well be playing in Toronto instead of Indiana, while the Colts will continue to be happy staying put in Indianapolis.
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