Fifty years ago, the first time the Chicago Bears threatened to move to Arlington Heights, Mayor Richard J. Daley was having none of it. 

“They won’t use the name of Chicago if they move to Arlington Heights,” Daley sputtered, threatening to sue the team for daring to put their name on an institution outside His city’s limits. “They’ll never use the name of Chicago as long as I’m mayor. They’ll get the greatest contest they ever got in their life. They will like hell be called the Chicago Bears.”

This time, the Bears aren’t just threatening to move to Arlington Heights. They’ve made the decision to build a new domed stadium on the site of the former Arlington Park racetrack. According to team president Kevin Warren, “Our new stadium and mixed-use district will generate lasting benefits for residents, workers, families, and fans in Arlington Heights, Cook County, and the State of Illinois.” (Notice he didn’t mention Chicago.) Continued Warren: “For more than 50 years, Soldier Field has been our home. But so too were Wrigley Field, Memorial Stadium, and Staley Field. We hope Arlington Heights will soon join that list — not because of its steel, brick, or glass, but because it will house what is irreplaceable to this franchise: You. Our Fans. Our Family.”

Maybe the fans are irreplaceable to the franchise, but the name “Chicago” isn’t it. Old Man Daley was right that if the Bears want to abandon the city of Chicago, they should not be allowed to take the name with them. If they’re going to move to a new city, they need a new name. Only one makes sense: the Illinois Bears. As Warren himself said, “the Chicago Bears belong to more than just Chicago. We belong to the entire state of Illinois.”

Plenty of NFL teams use the name of a state rather than a city. When the Phoenix Cardinals (who started as the Chicago Cardinals) built a new stadium in the suburb of Glendale, Arizona, they renamed themselves the Arizona Cardinals. The Tennessee Titans played their first few seasons in Memphis before putting down roots in Nashville, but didn’t slight their original home. The Minnesota Vikings play in Minneapolis, but don’t want to ignore St. Paul. When the Boston Patriots moved to a stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, halfway between Boston and Providence, they began calling themselves the New England Patriots, after an entire six-state region. (The NFL rejected “Bay State Patriots,” as it would no doubt reject “Prairie State Bears” or “Land of Lincoln Bears.”) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are named after a body of water. So are the Green Bay Packers, who play in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin.

Some teams, it is true, continue to use the names of cities, and even states, they no longer play in. The Dallas Cowboys of Arlington, Texas. The New York Giants and Jets of East Rutherford, New Jersey. The San Francisco 49ers of Santa Clara, California. The Washington Commanders of Landover, Maryland.

Chicago is different, though. Chicagoans are touchy about people from the suburbs claiming to be from the city. The Chicago Bears of Arlington Heights might get into uncomfortable conversations like this:

Chicagoan: “Chicago Bears? What part of Chicago are you from?”

Bears: “Arlington Heights, actually.”

Chicagoan: “That’s not Chicago.”

If you don’t like the sound of Illinois Bears, realize it could have been a lot worse. Earlier this year, an Indiana state representative sponsored a bill to create a professional sports development commission to lure the Bears to northwest Indiana. (This was Indiana’s second attempt to swipe the Bears: in 1995, a business group there proposed a $482 million stadium and entertainment complex to entice the Bears at a time when the team was demanding Chicago make upgrades to Soldier Field. The plan fell apart when Lake County, Indiana, refused to levy a 0.5 percent income tax to fund a stadium.) Had they succeeded, the Chicago Bears would have become…the Indiana Bears.

The Bears have actually been preparing for this name change for a long time. “Bear Down, Chicago Bears,” the team’s fight song, written in 1941, ends by calling the team “the pride and joy of Illinois.” 

When they move to Arlington Heights, the Bears will still be the pride and joy of Illinois. But they won’t be the pride and joy of Chicago anymore.