Late last week, news broke that the Chicago Bears are inching even closer to playing their games just outside of Illinois in Hammond, Indiana. On Friday, the team announced that the board of directors voted to advance plans for construction of their new stadium in the Indiana town. Since the announcement, there have been conflicting reports on how conclusive of a step this is. Some are saying this is essentially a done deal and the Bears will play their games in Indiana soon enough. Others believe
there is still hope for a Chicago-area stadium to be built.
Obviously, this news has struck a chord with Bears fans. Some believe it’s not that big of a deal, while others are livid that the Bears could possibly play their games outside of their home state. Of course, that’s not unprecedented for an NFL team, as the Giants and Jets play their games in New Jersey, just outside of the city of New York.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Would you still root for the Lions if they moved their home field outside of Michigan?
My answer: For the sake of comparing similar situations, let’s say the Lions moved their home stadium to Toledo or some other nearby city just outside of Michigan. The distance between Toledo and Detroit is actually about double the length between Chicago and Illinois, but it’s as close as you can get. Perhaps Windsor is a better comparison, but the complications of international travel make it an unfair comparison.
Regardless, while I would be pretty livid if the Ford family opted to move the stadium—and therefore a ton of commerce—away from the growing city of Detroit, it would be hard for me to give up the team completely. Obviously, I could continue to cover the team without the same emotional attachment I currently have with them, but I just don’t know if I could actually do it. The Lions franchise has meant so much to me for decades, and I know so many people within that organization personally, that it’s hard to imagine myself detaching emotionally from them.
So, I would probably still be a fan of them, but it would be one of those decisions that would make me question whether the right ownership was in place. And it’s not like they’d be moving the entire team from Michigan, just the stadium. If they became the Toledo Lions, that’s an entirely different conversation.
Thankfully, I don’t think the team is in any danger of moving anytime soon.
Let’s hear your thoughts about a hypothetical situation in which the Lions moved out of Michigan? Would you be done with the franchise?
