Almost from the moment Kevin Warren took over as team president of the Chicago Bears, things went sideways. He was officially hired by the team on January 12th, 2023. One month later, on February 15th, the team officially closed its purchase of the Arlington Park property in Arlington Heights. One would think the task ahead for Warren from that point was easy. Start making inroads down in Springfield to facilitate the process of getting the new stadium built. That is not what he did.
Around October of that same year, Warren began holding conversations with new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson about the possibility of a new lakefront stadium. After six months of discussions, the two unveiled a plan for a massive complex downtown. Yet the moment they pushed it to the state for consideration, it was shot down immediately. Governor J.B. Pritzker said there was no way taxpayers were helping fund such a venture, especially knowing activist groups would fight it all the way.
Left little choice, Warren pivoted back to Arlington Heights and eventually to Indiana as the primary possibilities. Yet it has become evident that the Bears’ president never let go of that dream of a downtown stadium.
Kevin Warren ruined everything because of this obsession.
New evidence from Justin Laurence of Crain’s Chicago Business proves it. Reports stated that the Bears held conversations with the city again, supposedly hoping to reignite a downtown stadium deal. The team insisted in a public statement that their focus was only on Arlington and Indiana. Nowhere else. The only call they placed to City Hall was about breaking their lease with Soldier Field. Laurence reports that this was a straight-up lie. The Bears actually held six calls.
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“The Chicago Bears told key Springfield lawmakers they had only limited discussions with City Hall about a potential new stadium, but records obtained by Crain’s show team and city attorneys held at least six calls and virtual meetings in April while legislators were considering a package of incentives to facilitate a move to Arlington Heights.”
What did Warren expect would happen?
Did he actually think that holding these talks with the city would remain a secret? These are professional politicians he’s dealing with. They will use any information against you they can if it’s to their own gain. Chicago knew right away that those phone calls were all but guaranteed to torpedo stadium bills because it would look like Kevin Warren and the Bears were negotiating in bad faith. This obsession with staying downtown despite mounting evidence that it won’t happen has done nothing but hamper the team’s efforts to get anything done.
Now here they sit. No deal with the spring legislature adjourned. It doesn’t sound like a special session will be called to address it. That means the Bears’ best hope is the government revisits it this fall. Otherwise, they’re looking at waiting another year before the process starts all over again. Doing so would be an admission of defeat and that the whole Indiana thing was nothing but a leverage play. This is why growing sentiment is that the Bears will announce their official move to Hammond within the next month.
Warren will be front and center, declaring this was the intention all along. He’ll soak in the limelight, passing it off as a victory. In reality, the Bears’ stadium would likely already be under construction if someone competent had been in charge. This entire saga felt like Warren flailing about like a fish on the beach. No sense of direction. No idea of how to handle the complicated machinations of the Illinois political landscape.
