The Chicago Bears named Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren as their next team president and CEO on Thursday.
Warren, 59, has spent the past three years with the conference, replacing longtime commissioner Jim Delany in early 2020. Prior to that, Warren spent several years in the front offices of the Vikings, Lions and Rams.
The Bears were seeking a replacement for Ted Phillips, the franchise’s longtime team president and CEO, who announced he’d be stepping down at the end of the 2022 season. Before stepping away, Phillips had spent a lot of his time preparing the Bears with their future stadium-site plans, with the team’s purchase sale agreement signed on the former site of Arlington Park racetrack in Arlington Heights, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.
Bears chairman George McCaskey had previously indicated that the team’s new president could be asked to pick up Phillips’ stadium work where he left off, although it has been reported that Phillips also could stay on board in an advisory role.
Warren’s experience as the Vikings’ Chief Operating Officer included negotiating and overseeing the construction of the team’s downtown Minneapolis venue, U.S. Bank Stadium, which also has hosted other big sporting events, such as Super Bowl LII and the 2019 men’s college basketball Final Four. The Vikings also constructed a new practice facility in nearby Eagan, Minn., under his watch.
Warren was a surprise choice as Ben Ten commissioner in that he had not worked in college athletics in many years before getting the job. His early days, navigating athletics amid the COVID-19 pandemic, were met with challenges and criticism after Warren initially said that the Big Ten would not play football that fall. The conference later reversed field and green-lit a return to action after public pressure and other conferences had already gone ahead with fall ball that year.
However, Warren also oversaw the Big Ten’s major expansion with the additions of UCLA and USC to the conference starting in the 2024-2025 season. He also helped negotiate a massive media-rights package -- totaling $8 billion -- for the Big Ten through the 2029-2030 season with Fox, NBC and CBS. The conference also landed two teams, Michigan and Ohio State, in the College Football Playoffs this past season.
Warren also has some longtime ties to the Bears organization. He spent five years as an NFL agent, representing former Bears and Notre Dame standout Chris Zorich in the 1990s. Zorich became Warren’s first client after attending a class Warren had taught at Notre Dame.
From there, Warren joined the St. Louis Rams, working closely with former Rams executive Jay Zygmunt, a Chicago native and a close friend and ally of Phillips. Eventually, Warren worked alongside McCaskey on the NFL’s workplace diversity committee.
Warren, a Chicago resident, had reportedly interviewed multiple times recently with the Bears at Halas Hall and emerged as a strong candidate in the past few weeks. One other known finalist for the job was Colin Faulkner, the Chicago Cubs’ vice president of sales and marketing, who also reportedly held multiple interviews with the franchise for Phillips’ vacated position.