Kevin Warren was named the Bears’ fifth president/CEO exactly two years ago Sunday.
Chairman George McCaskey said then that Warren’s goal was to “help bring the next Super Bowl championship trophy home to Bears fans.” The more pressing project, though, was to build the Bears a stadium, the way Warren helped shepherd the Vikings into U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings’ jaw-dropping dome had quickly become the envy of many inside Halas Hall.
Two years later, not enough has changed for the Bears on the stadium front.
They claim they’re not worried.
“No, it’s not taking too long,” McCaskey said Tuesday. “These things take time. We’re making progress. And we’re looking forward to a good result.”
You have to squint to see the progress.
When Warren was named president — his first day wasn’t until April 2023, three months after the announcement — the Bears wanted to build on the lakefront. They still do — on a parking lot adjacent to Soldier Field.
When Warren was named president, the Bears were in escrow on 326 acres in Arlington Heights. They own that land now — but consider it a backup plan. They might also have a backup to the backup — the Bears have given some consideration to the Michael Reese Hospital site south of McCormick Place.
The biggest sign of progress came last month, when three school districts and the Arlington Heights elected boards voted for an agreement that could give the Bears a property tax break. But that’s not even the site the Bears prefer — they’re focused on the Museum Campus.
In April, one day before taking quarterback Caleb Williams No. 1 overall, the Bears tried to capitalize on the excitement surrounding the draft by unveiling a $4.7 billion plan for a domed stadium inside a renovated Museum Campus. The team committed to pay $2 billion but asked for $900 million in public financing. That appears to be a non-starter.
This week, Warren pushed back against any notion that the stadium project had turned stagnant. He said the team still hopes to break ground sometime this year — somewhere — and predicted the project would gain further traction in a matter of months.
Skepticism is warranted until — or unless — it happens.
“I feel that we made a massive amount of momentum,” Warren said. “I’ve been here 20 months and we’ve made great progress. But along those lines, we own 326 acres of beautiful land in Arlington Heights. It’s a fantastic piece of property. We were able to get the memorandum of understanding done there. So optionality does exist.”
He was told it didn’t feel like the Bears were gaining momentum.
“We have stadium meetings every single day,” said Warren, whose franchise ensured one of those meetings was shown on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in August. “From a political standpoint, from a business standpoint, these things are massive projects. I’ve been here before in Minnesota. This is not buying a house where you go and find it and you put a deposit down and then you close on a certain day. There are so many things that come together.
“I think that you’ll see, especially as we get into the spring and summer, you’ll start seeing some of this progress that I’m talking about now. I feel the momentum is really moving in the right direction and from a stadium standpoint, we’re right exactly where I thought we would be.”
Matt Eberflus’ firing provided one more responsibility that the Bears couldn’t have planned for a year ago. It’s given Warren other responsibilities — he’s part of the committee that has been meeting with a wide range of Bears head coaching candidates since Wednesday and figures to continue to do so for weeks. The Bears have been conducting interviews remotely but will eventually meet with candidates in person, either at Halas Hall or near the candidate’s home.
Warren said the search isn’t taking time away from the stadium project. But it can’t be helping.
“This is my life — the Chicago Bears are my life,” he said. “I spend so much time here any way … As I said it in December and I’ll say it again today, this decision, our head football coach, will impact the trajectory of this franchise for the next 10, 15, 20 years.”
The stadium, though, will stand for twice as long, if not longer. If they can get one built.