PALM BEACH, Fla. — Bears chairman George McCaskey and his family feel the responsibility to steward the Bears in the wake of his mom Virginia’s death in February.
Wednesday, he paused when asked what that felt like.
“Tremendous,” he said. “Overwhelming. Daunting. Challenging. Humbling. Gratifying.”
McCaskey said the family “intend to own the Bears for as long as possible” in his first public comments since his mom’s death. There will be no shift in ownership structure, he said.
“Another 100 years would be great,” McCaskey said. “She set it up for us to accomplish that. She gave us the playbook. She coached us up. Now we’ve got to execute the plan, and we’re prepared to do that. We’ve got to stick together.”
The NFL long ago approved a succession plan that would allow family ownership to continue after the matriarch’s death. There are four McCaskeys on the team’s board of directors and four more who work inside Halas Hall.
“She set it up for a smooth transition, and it’s a credit to her,” he said. “In law school, I heard stories about people who just couldn’t contemplate their mortality, and as a result, it caused a lot of confusion and problems for the family, and she had the foresight to set it up so we don’t have that problem.”
There are challenges ahead nonetheless. President/CEO Kevin Warren will make a presentation to the team’s board of directors in May detailing the pros and cons of private equity investment.
The NFL agreed last year to let teams to sell up to 10% of a franchise to private equity investors. The Bills and Dolphins have since done exactly that, with their ownership groups maintaining of control while receiving a cash infusion.
Selling a percentage of the team could be the mechanism that enables the Bears to afford to build a new stadium, be it downtown or in Arlington Heights.
“The dollars are staggering,” McCaskey said. “The risk is staggering.”
Continuing forward, though, is continuing the family legacy.
“The thing she emphasized to us is, we’re not owners — we’re stewards of George Halas’ legacy,” he said. “We didn’t do anything to deserve this. It just happened to us. It’s not a role she ever wanted; she was perfectly comfortable with her brother running the show. Fate determined otherwise. She did the best that she could in her own way to carry on her dad’s legacy.
“Now it’s our responsibility. We’ve gotta do that cooperatively and thoughtfully and energetically and faithfully.”
