Open letter concerning the Arlington Heights stadium of the president and chief executive officer of Kevin Warren
Tonight marks the 106th season of Chicago Bears Football. Our team has played nearly 1,500 regular season games since our first match as Decatur Staleys in 1920, 180 miles south in Decatur, Illinois. Since our creation, we have played under different names, with different uniforms, in different cities, in different places. That said, a critical component has remained constant – the Chicago Bears belong more than Chicago. We belong to the whole state of Illinois. The nation. The world.
We are at a time of the Chicago Bears franchise to build a new stadium, our future house in Arlington Heights, which will not require any money for the construction. This is the year to finalize our stadium plans so that we can officially bid to organize a Super Bowl from 2031. It’s time to start moving to this future, and we want you with us.
The 2025 season marks an exciting period to be a fan of the Bears. We are opening up the season this evening, Monday evening Football, with a new head coach, a young talented list and the best staff in class. We focus on competition for the championships and the construction of a transformative house for the future.
Since I was hired as president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Bears in April 2023, we have invested a lot of time, energy and resources to strengthen our football operations, our commercial operations and our stadium planning. Our official coaching-chief research began in January 2025, and we had the chance to hire Ben Johnson, who has already ensured leadership, responsibility and vision. The managing director Ryan Pomes and coach Johnson built a stronger list thanks to free agencies, professions and an excellent recovery class. Just as we have reinforced our team on the field, we also remained concentrated in the field on the delivery of a world class house for the future.
In the evaluation of the options of a new stadium, the McCaskey family has been clear: building a world class stadium which does not require any money from the State of Illinois for its construction. We associate ourselves with political, employee, commercial and community leaders of Illinois to develop a tax certainty plan and a fair contribution to the essential infrastructure that will benefit the whole community. Arlington Heights is the only site in Cook County that meets this standard. It allows us to better serve our fans base and offer a really transformative and high gameday experience.
Our new stadium, with a fixed roof and the corresponding mixed use development, will be worthy of the most passionate fans in the NFL and capable of hosting brand events all year round – from the Super Bowl in the Final Four to world football matches at concerts at community events at sporting events for young people. After buying 326 acres from Arlington Heights in 2023, we fully evaluated other sites within the limits of the city of Chicago, but none was viable.
Move outside the city of Chicago is not a decision that we have easily made. This project does not represent us the start, it represents us expansion. The Bears attract fans of everything in Illinois, and more than 50% of our season ticket holders live less than 40 miles from the Arlington Heights site. The project offers us the possibility of building a stadium and a mixed development development that will benefit our fans, our region and our future together. Most importantly, the new stadium will raise the experience of fans with easy access, whether by Metra Train directly on the site or a short car trip with a large parking lot and a heel, creating a vital link between Chicago and the wider community of Cook County, ensuring that each fan feels at home.
Our new stadium and our mixed use district will generate lasting advantages for residents, workers, families and fans of Arlington Heights, County Cook and the State of Illinois. This development will create more than 56,000 jobs under construction and 9,000 permanent jobs. We plan that $ 10 billion in economic impact allocated to state -of -scale construction and $ 256 million in annual impact of new businesses and tourism across the state. Chicago has only 10 cranes in the sky, which turns pale compared to other major cities. This is a unique opportunity for Chicago, its surrounding communities and the state of Illinois to become the ultimate in sports and entertainment destinations.
This is the type of place and destination that you have all deserved for years, and we have been working every day to progress. This stadium will allow us to have the best advantage in the field of the National Football League. Although we do not have all the answers yet, we are optimistic about working with the village of Arlington Heights to obtain the necessary approvals and start to build our new house.
Currently, it’s time to relax. Have fun tonight, while we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl championship team. We must make sure to create an incredible advantage on the field.
For over 50 years, Soldier Field has been our house. But were also Wrigley Field, Memorial Stadium and Staley Field. We hope that Arlington Heights will soon join this list – not because of his steel, his brick or his glass, but because he will house what is irreplaceable at this franchise: you. Our fans. Our family.
Kevin Warren
President and Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Bears Football Club
