'Everything Is On the Table' For Bears New Stadium: Warren

CHICAGO — Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren says he promised his bosses when he was hired that he would approach the job with a fresh set of eyes. That appears to include where the Bears will end up when they build a new stadium.

Warren told Peter King of NBC Sports this week that “everything is on the table” when it comes to where the team will build a multi-billion-dollar domed stadium. After closing on a $197.2 million deal to purchase the 326-acre Arlington Park Racecourse, the Bears have opened up conversations with other municipalities including Naperville, Aurora, and the City of Chicago about where the team could eventually build a new stadium.

The Bears have said that Arlington Heights is no longer the team’s singular focus after it appeared that the former racetrack property was once the team’s main target for a new stadium. Bears officials, including Chairman George McCaskey, have met with local officials and residents in Arlington Heights, where issues such as the valuation of the racecourse property as well as tax benefits for local schools. Earlier this summer, Warren — who was hired in April to replace Ted Phillips — said things are at a stalemate in Arlington Heights.

Warren said on King’s podcast on Wednesday that the team hopes to have an answer about where the Bears will build a new domed stadium in the next 12 months. Warren, who was a major architect in bringing a new stadium to the Minnesota Vikings, said that once ground is broken, it would likely be three years before the Bears could begin play in their new stadium.

At this point, however, the Bears appear to be in fact-finding mode about what community would become the perfect partner for the team when it comes to finding a new home for “the best stadium in the world.”

“When you look at the overall evolution of what a stadium means to a city, a county, a state, having a domed stadium in the climate that we live in from a business, from a fan standpoint, from a player standpoint, from a game-day experience standpoint, makes the most sense,” Warren said on the podcast. “What it will allow us to do is to be able to host other events — the Super Bowl, the Final Four, College Football Playoff championships.”

Warren says there are ways to create the same environment that makes an outdoor atmosphere in Chicago in the winter unique. He said whether that means including more windows or putting a certain type of roof on the venue, the new Bears stadium can offer a game day experience fans will enjoy and come to embrace.

Asked if he believes a deal will ultimately get done in Arlington Heights, Warren quickly shifted to talk about multiple options.

“We had that period where we were focused on Arlington – we have some issues that we still need to work on (and) there is still a possibility there,” Warren said. “But one of the things I promised myself and promised the McCaskey family is that I would really take a fresh look at what’s the best thing to do. If it turns out to be Arlington, it turns out to be Arlington.”

However, Warren specifically mentioned the new leadership of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as opening the door to building the stadium downtown. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot established a committee for a re-imagined Soldier Field, which would include adding a dome to the Bears’ current home. But the Bears at the time said that they were focused solely on Arlington Heights.

But as he considers where the Bears will land, Warren said that the surroundings of a downtown stadium could factor in.

“One thing that makes this environment so special is God really kissed downtown Chicago with that lakefront,” Warren told King. “I don’t think there’s any place in the country that has that beauty, a city right upon a beautiful lake and Lake Michigan.”

He added: “I’m confident that when it’s all said and done, people will be pleased.”