The PSL problem nobody's talking about
Kevin Warren has written thousands of words about the stadium search. He's talked about community, fans, and Chicago's future. He has never once addressed what happens to the 26,000-plus fans who bought Personal Seat Licenses for Soldier Field if the Bears move. Here's what the PSL document actually says.
By Dear Kevin Warren · 2026-02-25
Kevin Warren has written thousands of words about the Bears' stadium search. He's talked about community impact. World-class facilities. The fan experience. Chicago's future.
He has never once addressed what happens to the roughly 26,000 Bears fans who bought Personal Seat Licenses for Soldier Field.
Here's what the PSL document actually says.
What a PSL is and what Bears fans paid
Before the 2003 Soldier Field renovation, the Bears sold Personal Seat Licenses to finance the project. A PSL is not a seat. It's the right to buy a seat. Specifically: you pay a one-time fee, and in exchange, you have the exclusive right to purchase season tickets for that specific seat at that specific stadium.
The Bears sold somewhere between 26,000 and 28,000 of these licenses. Prices ranged from roughly $765 on the low end to $10,000 or more for premium locations. Many fans paid far more on the secondary market in subsequent years as the team's fortunes rose and fell.
The PSL program raised significant money for the Soldier Field project. Bears fans effectively co-financed the stadium they now play in.
What the document says about a move
This is the part Kevin Warren has never addressed in any open letter.
Bears PSLs are venue-specific. They are valid only as long as the Bears play home games at Soldier Field. When the Bears play their final home game at Soldier Field, the PSL ends.
Not transfers to the new stadium. Not converts to priority rights for the new venue. Ends.
The PSL document is written this way deliberately. The license you bought was a license to a seat at Soldier Field. If there is no more Soldier Field — or if the Bears no longer play there — your license is worth exactly what the secondary market will pay for it the day the move is announced.
On the day the Bears confirm they're leaving, anyone holding a Soldier Field PSL will watch its secondary market value collapse in real time.
What happens at the new stadium
When teams build new stadiums, they do not honor the seat licenses from the old building. They sell new PSLs for the new venue.
The Rams did this when they moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles. St. Louis PSL holders received nothing. The Rams sold new licenses at SoFi Stadium, ranging from a few thousand dollars to six figures for premium seats.
The Raiders did this when they moved to Las Vegas. Oakland PSL holders from the old Coliseum were not offered rights at Allegiant Stadium.
The Chargers did this in San Diego. Fans who held rights at Qualcomm Stadium got nothing when the team relocated.
The Bears have not committed to any different treatment. Asked about PSLs in 2021 when the Arlington Heights purchase first raised relocation questions, the team called it "premature" to discuss. That was five years ago. They have not revisited it.
If the Bears follow standard NFL practice: Bears fans who bought Soldier Field PSLs will have the right to buy a season ticket at whatever the new stadium is at market rate, assuming they get that far in the waitlist. They will not have seat-specific rights. They will not be compensated for their PSL investment.
Meanwhile, the new stadium will sell fresh PSLs. Early leaks for new Bears stadium PSL pricing have suggested roughly $3,500 per seat in some sections, with premium areas going much higher.
So the math for a Soldier Field PSL holder: you paid up to $10,000 for the right to buy a seat. That right evaporates. Then you pay $3,500 to $10,000 or more for the right to buy a seat at the new place.
Warren's silence
Warren has written four major open letters since becoming Bears CEO. He has held press conferences. He has given interviews to the Tribune, Crain's, ESPN, The Athletic, and NFL.com.
He has never answered the PSL question.
Not "we're working on a transition plan." Not "PSL holders will receive priority rights." Nothing.
The Bears' stadium site at stadium.chicagobears.com talks about fan experience. Community impact. World-class amenities. It says nothing about the 26,000-plus fans whose investment in the old stadium ends when the team leaves.
This is not an oversight. It is a choice. The Bears have decided not to address it because addressing it would require either (a) making a costly promise or (b) confirming that PSL holders get nothing.
What fans are already saying
On Reddit's r/CHIBears and in Bears fan forums, PSL holders have been raising this question since the Arlington Heights purchase in 2022. The same answers come up repeatedly: the document is clear, the Bears owe nothing, and some fans are already talking about litigation if the move happens without any compensation.
Litigation is an uncertain path. Courts have generally held that PSL agreements are contracts, and if the contract says the license terminates when the team stops playing at the venue, that's what it means.
The Bears could choose to offer PSL holders priority rights, partial credit, or other accommodations. Several teams have done this voluntarily to manage the public relations damage of leaving.
The key word is "voluntarily." Nothing in the document requires it.
The question Warren should answer
Warren should answer this at his next open letter, press conference, or media interview:
What happens to the roughly 26,000 Bears fans who bought Soldier Field PSLs if the team moves before the lease expires in 2033?
Follow-up:
Will they receive credit toward a new stadium PSL? Priority placement in the queue? Partial refund? Anything?
Warren talks about fans constantly. He says the new stadium will be built for them. He invokes Chicago's spirit and the Bears' community roots in every public statement.
He has never answered this question.
Indiana's 95-4 vote last night made the leverage real. The conversation about a move is no longer theoretical for anyone paying attention.
For 26,000 Bears fans, the conversation about what they're losing was never theoretical to begin with.
The number to remember
The Bears' Soldier Field lease runs through 2033. If the team triggers the early termination clause, the penalty is reportedly around $90 million.
That's what it costs the Bears to break the lease.
Breaking the PSL for 26,000 fans costs them nothing. The document allows it. They just have to leave.
Sources: Chicago Tribune (November 2, 2021); Bears PSL Marketplace (bears.strmarketplace.com); Indiana Capital Chronicle (February 2026); @BearsInChicago (X/Twitter, February 20, 2026); r/CHIBears (Reddit); General NFL PSL precedent: Raiders (Oakland-to-Las Vegas), Rams (St. Louis-to-Los Angeles), Chargers (San Diego-to-Los Angeles).