The Chicago Bears continue looking like an outfit that has no clue what it’s doing on this new stadium front. Remember, the Tennessee Titans announced their own new stadium project a year after the Bears. Not only will they now finish it long before the Bears do, but they’re already set to host a Super Bowl. That should give you an idea of how bungled this entire process has been, and Bears team president Kevin Warren is at the heart of it. He was hired in 2022 solely because of his experience helping the Minnesota Vikings build U.S. Bank Stadium. This was supposed to be his area of expertise.
Time has shown that his influence in that process may have been grossly overstated. Everything about the process has felt haphazard and disorganized. Common things crucial for the process have been ignored or forgotten. Warren seemed to think most of the job was done, since the Bears already owned the property in Arlington Heights. He quickly found out that was not the case, and the executive had looked out of his depth. If you needed another example, a new problem has emerged with the situation, according to Christopher Placek of the Daily Herald.
Kevin Warren still hasn’t presented a plan for infrastructure upgrades.
The mayors of Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg have asked state leaders for a seat at the table in discussions about infrastructure upgrades that would be needed around a Chicago Bears stadium in Arlington Heights.
The mayors say they also want to see a transportation/traffic study the NFL club’s consultants have been working on — since that would guide the kind of infrastructure work that needs to be done — while expressing frustration such an analysis isn’t yet complete more than three years after the team acquired the 326-acre Arlington Park property…
…“Our main concern is that state decision makers are relying on the Chicago Bears Football Club to determine what infrastructure needs to be included. The team likely will focus on a ‘range ring’ of one mile or less and we believe state leaders must see the larger picture, including improvements needed two to three miles from the stadium site,” the mayors wrote in the initial April 2 letter to state leaders.
Kevin Warren can’t possibly be that clueless.
Think about this. The Bears have been fighting tooth and nail to get support from the state government on infrastructure funding for years. It’s been their entire focus pretty much since their ownership of the Arlington property became official. You’re telling us that in all of that time, moaning and complaining about needing infrastructure help, that you didn’t bother putting together a plan on what you’d do with it? There is forgetting something, and then there’s whatever this is.
Kevin Warren has always talked a big game, but it’s becoming clearer by the day that he is less a professional executive and more a politician. He talks a lot, making all sorts of grand promises, but never delivers on any of them because he has no idea how. Now those reports of George McCaskey quickly growing impatient with him make more sense. Ted Phillips wasn’t perfect, but he at least came across as organized and business-savvy. Warren can’t even claim to be that.
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Is a late pivot at team president uncalled for?
That is a question McCaskey should be asking himself. It’s hard to imagine anybody else taking over the negotiations can do worse than Warren has. The Bears have other people inside the building who are likely more capable than this. Just promote one of them to the job and be done with it. Continuing this farce isn’t good for anybody. It’s wasting time and money. The NFL is putting increasing pressure on the team to pick up the pace. Either get the deal done in Arlington or move to Indiana. Stop the dithering.
For all the promises of getting this done by late spring or early summer, the available evidence paints a grim picture. There is a real chance this process stalls again. Warren doesn’t know how to grease the necessary palms to push it over the finish line. He’s hoping the Indiana threat will do the work for him. That may have gotten things moving, but it was on him to maintain the momentum. That hasn’t happened, and it’s because of several little oversights like this one.
