The Big Ten Commissioner Search

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#76      
Mr. Tibbs
one could argue that Warren is taking a step down the ladder in "prestige" as far as jobs go.

But obviously, he wanted out of the job that he never was a match for,
and wanted back into the NFL and the Bears job right now seems like it is a perfect fit,
and he doesnt have to move residences, for what that is worth.
 
#77      
hooraybeer
Mr. Tibbs said:
one could argue that Warren is taking a step down the ladder in "prestige" as far as jobs go.

But obviously, he wanted out of the job that he never was a match for,
and wanted back into the NFL and the Bears job right now seems like it is a perfect fit,
and he doesnt have to move residences, for what that is worth.
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if Phillips gets us Duke and UNC I am all for it
 
#78      
ChiefGritty
Mr. Tibbs said:
For various reasons, is Condi Rice a candidate ?
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mattcoldagelli said:
I'm not pretending to be an expert on the day-to-day of the ACC, but of the non-Big Two conferences, it seems they have maintained the surest footing. Don't know how much of that would be directly attributable to Phillips, but it's not nothing.
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I think step 1 is always asking the 10,000 foot question: what is the job? What does success look like?

And for the Big Ten commissioner I think that's pretty clearly to maintain and develop Big Ten sports as a business, amid a rapidly shifting landscape on a number of fronts. TV is the biggest part of that but there is ticket buying and other facets as well.

Jim Phillips did tremendously well through that lens at Northwestern. He's been trapped in their below-market TV deal with the ACC, not his fault, but I think the realities of that mean he would jump at the job. And he's a Big Ten guy, he really understands the league and the culture and where some of the bodies are buried in a way Warren has obviously struggled with from day one. He seems like an obvious choice.

All due respect to Condoleezza Rice who seems like an earnest person who takes all the weird roles she gets thrown into seriously, but her actual training is as an academic, and this job is one academics (aka the University presidents) fill with someone who has the private business savvy they lack. But she's the all-purpose tokenism candidate for everything so I wouldn't be shocked to see her name.
 
#79      
ChiefGritty
Mr. Tibbs said:
one could argue that Warren is taking a step down the ladder in "prestige" as far as jobs go.
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In prestige maybe, but the Arlington Heights project is going to be a big high-profile undertaking that I'm sure Warren sees himself as a better fit for, and he's right.

And as a Bears fan the hiring of someone independent of the McCaskey's on one side and the football operation on the other, with a clear focus on the business operation, is encouraging. That's an organizational structure that makes sense, unlike whatever Ted Phillips was.
 
#82      
champaignchris
ChiefGritty said:
In prestige maybe, but the Arlington Heights project is going to be a big high-profile undertaking that I'm sure Warren sees himself as a better fit for, and he's right.

And as a Bears fan the hiring of someone independent of the McCaskey's on one side and the football operation on the other, with a clear focus on the business operation, is encouraging. That's an organizational structure that makes sense, unlike whatever Ted Phillips was.
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If Philips navigates the Arlington Heights project, the almost certain sale of the team that comes after, and all the complexities likely to come with both, he’ll have positioned himself well for the job he really wants - Commissioner of the NFL
 
#83      
champaignchris
Just to reiterate what’s going on with the Bears: in addition to the massive Arlington Heights project, with all of its logistical, political and other hurdles, the Bears were recently valued by Forbes magazine at $5.8 billion. Their principal share holder Virginia McCaskey recently turned 100 years old.

She’s not going to live forever. Not to be ghoulish, but the matter of winding up her estate is quite likely to take several years and cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars. One way or another, there will eventually be an ownership change there, and it may very well behoove the family to sell controlling interest of the team to simplify and expedite the estate.

Many people speculate that the whole point of the Arlington Heights project is to get the Bears out of the complicated and political relationship with the City of Chicago and the Park District in order to make the franchise easier to sell.

Warren as COO is going to be in charge of handling all of the above.
 
#84      
Mr. Tibbs
Warren is 59.
Kinda doubt the NFL ever hires a new Commish if he/she was over 65
 
#85      
ChiefGritty
champaignchris said:
Many people speculate that the whole point of the Arlington Heights project is to get the Bears out of the complicated and political relationship with the City of Chicago and the Park District in order to make the franchise easier to sell.
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In terms of getting the Bears out, there's nothing complicated at all, they have a lease until 2033 which the team can terminate for $84 million starting in 2026.

The complicated part is the Arlington Heights part, the build itself is a more difficult and time consuming endeavor than people realize. And you're right, an actuary would tell you Virginia's chances of living to see the new stadium open are not statistically robust, and her death will create a complex and suboptimal ownership situation for the team.
 
#88      
champaignchris
ChiefGritty said:
In terms of getting the Bears out, there's nothing complicated at all, they have a lease until 2033 which the team can terminate for $84 million starting in 2026.

The complicated part is the Arlington Heights part, the build itself is a more difficult and time consuming endeavor than people realize. And you're right, an actuary would tell you Virginia's chances of living to see the new stadium open are not statistically robust, and her death will create a complex and suboptimal ownership situation for the team.
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I’m not saying getting the Bears out of the Soldier Field lease is complicated. Just that so long as the Bears stay in that lease, the relationship with the City is complicated. They have far less control over their stadium than most NFL teams. For example, having to rely on the Park District for the care and maintenance of the playing surface.
 
#89      
Illini in Italy
ChiTown said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1613568166721982464
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Buh bye!

Hocus Pocus Winnie GIF by Jamie Tam
 
#90      
ChiefGritty
champaignchris said:
I’m not saying getting the Bears out of the Soldier Field lease is complicated. Just that so long as the Bears stay in that lease, the relationship with the City is complicated. They have far less control over their stadium than most NFL teams. For example, having to rely on the Park District for the care and maintenance of the playing surface.
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Oh, sure, I mean, "complicated" in that it sucks.

Playing in a publicly owned outdoor facility where the revenue from other events goes to the city/county/state rather than the team isn't super uncommon in the NFL, actually, but it's not the way the state of the art is moving, and the combination of Soldier Field's other weaknesses as a facility and the massive value of the franchise's monopoly on NFL football in the Chicago market make it a situation the team is quite obviously trying to change.

Arlington Heights is too far away. It's farther from the central city and sits amid more low-density suburban development than any major pro sports facility in the country. BUT, the Arlington Park parcel of land is absolutely perfect for this sort of project and while the overall traffic/transit connectivity isn't ideal, the existing Metra stop on the property is a pretty big plus. It's a risk, but you can see why the team believes it has brighter prospects out there.

SoFi Stadium is the new hotness in the global sports business, and the Bears not unrealistically think they've hit on the opportunity to build their own.
 
#93      
ptgrd23
B10 commissioner

Pro's
- start out along with SEC as front runner in conference alignment/$$ race
- new media deal already signed
- USC and UCLA already coming so need to push for further expansion in near future
- Warren made $4.1M/year (Whitman makes $1M/yr at Illinois)

Con's
- 18 bosses
- Fast changing environment - congress could get involved, NIL, transfer portal, BCS

There are going to be a lot of great candidates applying
- politicians
- university presidents
- media types
- NFL execs
- current conference commissioners
 
#94      
Bucktown
champaignchris said:
Just to reiterate what’s going on with the Bears: in addition to the massive Arlington Heights project, with all of its logistical, political and other hurdles, the Bears were recently valued by Forbes magazine at $5.8 billion. Their principal share holder Virginia McCaskey recently turned 100 years old.

She’s not going to live forever. Not to be ghoulish, but the matter of winding up her estate is quite likely to take several years and cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars. One way or another, there will eventually be an ownership change there, and it may very well behoove the family to sell controlling interest of the team to simplify and expedite the estate.

Many people speculate that the whole point of the Arlington Heights project is to get the Bears out of the complicated and political relationship with the City of Chicago and the Park District in order to make the franchise easier to sell.

Warren as COO is going to be in charge of handling all of the above.
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It is certain there is a succession plan written by very competent estate planning attorneys and accountants. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
 
#95      
ChiefGritty
Bucktown said:
It is certain there is a succession plan written by very competent estate planning attorneys and accountants. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
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She has 11 kids, is the thing. And the entire wealth of the McCaskey family is their ownership stake in the Bears, they have no independent wealth at all.

It's not as if they haven't had many years to think about and plan for this, but by far the easiest, simplest, cleanest and most remunerative option for the family at large upon Virginia's passing is to sell the team.
 
#96      
eas23
ChiefGritty said:
Oh, sure, I mean, "complicated" in that it sucks.

Playing in a publicly owned outdoor facility where the revenue from other events goes to the city/county/state rather than the team isn't super uncommon in the NFL, actually, but it's not the way the state of the art is moving, and the combination of Soldier Field's other weaknesses as a facility and the massive value of the franchise's monopoly on NFL football in the Chicago market make it a situation the team is quite obviously trying to change.

Arlington Heights is too far away. It's farther from the central city and sits amid more low-density suburban development than any major pro sports facility in the country. BUT, the Arlington Park parcel of land is absolutely perfect for this sort of project and while the overall traffic/transit connectivity isn't ideal, the existing Metra stop on the property is a pretty big plus. It's a risk, but you can see why the team believes it has brighter prospects out there.

SoFi Stadium is the new hotness in the global sports business, and the Bears not unrealistically think they've hit on the opportunity to build their own.
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What does "too far away" mean in this context though? It's not as if the Bears are going to have trouble getting people to come 8 days a year, and this site is much closer to O'Hare for the mega events that will draw out of town visitors that Chicago can't get now.

Also the low density point is definitely not true in relation to Foxboro, and possibly a couple others like DC and Buffalo.
 
#97      
Ransom Stoddard
eas23 said:
What does "too far away" mean in this context though? It's not as if the Bears are going to have trouble getting people to come 8 days a year, and this site is much closer to O'Hare for the mega events that will draw out of town visitors that Chicago can't get now.

Also the low density point is definitely not true in relation to Foxboro, and possibly a couple others like DC and Buffalo.
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The 49'ers play in Santa Clara--43 miles from downtown SF.

There's an existing Metra stop at the Arlington Park location (granted, getting there from any line other than the NW requires a transfer, most likely downtown), Arlington Heights is near the confluence of I-90 and I-290 which makes it extremely accessible from almost anywhere, and also helps avoid the logjam traffic associated with getting to Soldier Field. There are many hotels and restaurants nearby and I'd expect that there may be some re-development plans to make the area more amenable to walking around (think Ballpark Village in St. Louis). I'm all in on Arlington Heights, the only drawback being that there's so much history at SF and the exterior is so iconic.
 
#99      
eas23
Ransom Stoddard said:
The 49'ers play in Santa Clara--43 miles from downtown SF.

There's an existing Metra stop at the Arlington Park location (granted, getting there from any line other than the NW requires a transfer, most likely downtown), Arlington Heights is near the confluence of I-90 and I-290 which makes it extremely accessible from almost anywhere, and also helps avoid the logjam traffic associated with getting to Soldier Field. There are many hotels and restaurants nearby and I'd expect that there may be some re-development plans to make the area more amenable to walking around (think Ballpark Village in St. Louis). I'm all in on Arlington Heights, the only drawback being that there's so much history at SF and the exterior is so iconic.
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Even the history gets overstated. The Bears didn't play there until 1971. Gale Sayers literally played 1 game at Soldier Field.
 
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