The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears have had plenty of connections over the past few years. But one of the biggest has been Kevin Warren with a big role behind the scenes.
Warren was in the Vikings organization from 2005 to 2019 and spent his final four years as the Chief Operating Officer with the team. But since becoming the Bears’ President and Chief Executive Officer in 2023, it seems to be quietly sabotaging the franchise.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bears’ Board of Directors voted to advance their plans for a stadium development in Hammond. While the vote does not finalize the move, it does take them out of the stadium in Illinois and is the latest example of the difficulties Warren has experienced since leaving the Vikings.
Former Minnesota Vikings COO Kevin Warren is one step closer to moving the Chicago Bears to Indiana
Warren has done a lot of good since moving to Chicago, most notably the overhaul of the team’s leadership structure in 2025. While general manager Ryan Poles kept his job, head coach Matt Eberflus was fired and replaced with Ben Johnson. The first year of the structure helped Chicago win an NFC North title for the first time since 2018 and their first playoff game since 2010, but it also came under the backdrop of the team’s stadium situation.
Seeking to build an entire complex around a new stadium, the Bears purchased land in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights in 2023. After the $5 billion project was halted over concerns about tax rates, the Bears proposed a $4.7 billion domed stadium to be built in downtown Chicago, which was met with similar pushback from city and state officials.
That led to the Hammond proposal, and while it seemed unfathomable that the Bears would follow the New York Giants and New York Jets, who play in New Jersey. It seems like it is now more likely than ever that they could be playing in a city located 25 miles away from Chicago, but it is roughly an hour drive, depending on traffic.
Warren could ultimately succeed in his goal to build a new stadium, but it hasn’t gone as smoothly as his time with the Vikings. The 62-year-old was instrumental in the process that helped U.S. Bank Stadium open in 2016 and the TCO Performance Center open in 2018. He was also a force in helping the team’s diversity and culture initiatives move forward, serving as a member on the NFL Committee on Workplace Diversity and rebranding the Minnesota Vikings Foundation to focus better on the community and open more opportunities for community involvement.
The Bears have also done tremendous work in the community under Warren’s watch. But his biggest task is getting the team a new stadium. Ultimately, the Bears could be happy with the job that Warren has done, and it’s not hard to upgrade over the 101-year-old Soldier Field, which was renovated in 2003 but is showing its age.Â
But with refineries, oil storage complexes, and a foundation that could be built near hazardous waste sites, it could be a downgrade from if they had found a way to work something out with the state of Illinois.
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