The Big Ten’s commissioner may find his next job opportunity back in the NFL. 

Commissioner Kevin Warren has reportedly emerged as a top candidate to become the next president and CEO of the Chicago Bears. Warren – who has previous NFL experience with the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, and St. Louis Rams — is one of the final candidates to be considered for the position.

“We have not set a timeline for announcing Ted Phillips’ successor,” the Bears said in a statement Thursday. Phillips will retire after the 2022 season and has held his position since 1999.

• Warren has already conducted in-person interviews with the Bears organization. 
• The attorney-turned-commissioner was instrumental in the Vikings’ move into U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016. 
• Bears personnel believe Warren could help transition the team into a new stadium.
• The franchise is expected to finish its search for a new president in the coming weeks. 

The Big Ten released a statement regarding Warren’s candidacy, which noted that Warren “regularly receives unique opportunities and requests for his expertise.”

Warren played a key role in securing a new blockbuster media rights deal for the Big Ten in August. The conference agreed to a deal with FOX, CBS, NBC, and NBC’s Peacock worth at least $7 billion – the largest media rights pact in all of college sports. The deal proves to be valuable as the Big Ten will add football powerhouses USC and UCLA in 2024.

Warren, who was hired as the Big Ten’s commissioner in 2019, was the first Black commissioner of a Power 5 conference.

Move Approved

Earlier this month, the UC Regents decided that it will not block UCLA from joining the Big Ten.

The move could come with a hefty price as the regents could mandate UCLA to pay UC Berkeley a subsidy of $2 million to $10 million following the Pac-12’s newest media deal.

The NWSL reportedly narrowed the potential sites for expansion teams down to three cities, and one mayor is voicing her support.

“Our city would obviously be an excellent home for a team of world class athletes representing the best women’s soccer league in the world,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. “Starting up a professional women’s soccer team is a challenging endeavor, but one that we are excited about.”

Jennifer Epstein, founder of Juno Equity and daughter of Celtics co-owner Robert Epstein, and Linda Henry, CEO of Boston Globe Media Partners and co-owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, are included in the all-female investment group.

• The Boston Breakers were an original member of the NWSL from 2013-17.
• The team “wasn’t a failure of the market, but more a failure of just the time and the model put forth,” said Epstein. 

Groups from San Francisco and Tampa are the other finalists for a team, with the highest initial bid reportedly over $40 million.

Sixth Street is backing the San Francisco bid with USWNT players Brandi Chastain and Aly Wagner. Tampa Bay Rays majority owner Stuart Sternberg is leading the Tampa bid.

Royals’ Revival

The NWSL will add two teams in 2024. 

Utah is expected to be awarded one. The owners of MLS’ Real Salt Lake hold an option to revive the Utah Royals — who moved to Kansas City at the end of 2020 to become the Kansas City Current — reportedly for around $2 million.

Two of the College Football Playoff’s participants have made significant investments in their training facilities to ensure that this season’s appearance is not their last.

TCU recently announced it would begin a new project to renovate and expand its athletic facilities to the tune of an estimated $40 million.

The project — spurred on by a $10 million donation from the Jane & John Justin Foundation — will include:

• Modernization of the existing 20,000-square-foot Bob Lilly Performance Center.
• The Football Performance Center with 20,000 square feet of strength and conditioning space, conference rooms, and technology centers.
• The Restoration and Wellness Center, which will be open to all TCU student-athletes, will focus on accelerating recovery and preventing injury.

Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2024.

As a private university, TCU, which makes its playoff semifinal debut Saturday at 4 p.m. ET against Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl, has an enrollment of just over 10,000 students — at least a third of the size of each of the other three playoff schools.

Training a Champion

In the other playoff semifinal, defending-champion Georgia also boasts new football facilities.

The SEC power unveiled new expansion and renovation to its Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall in May — an $80 million project that yielded a new locker room, lounge area, nutrition bar, barbershop, and state-of-the-art weight room.

The Bulldogs begin their title defense Saturday at 8 p.m. ET against Ohio State in the Peach Bowl.

Everton will have a new home field before the 2024-25 season, but the Premier League club is putting a naming rights deal on hold. 

The decision comes after Everton severed ties with former naming rights partner USM, a Russian holding company, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February. 

• Everton is valued at $940 million — the 16th-most-valuable soccer team, per Forbes.
• The club will announce two stadium partners in the “coming weeks.”
• Those deals will not be related to the sale of naming rights for its new $694 million stadium.

In January, Everton owner Farhad Moshiri invested an additional $135 million in the club, increasing his stake to 94% — up from the 66% stake he previously held. Moshiri purchased Everton in 2016 for $270 million but the club could be changing hands in the near future.

Everton has reportedly received takeover interest from AMF Global Ventures Corp. I, a blank-check company co-led by Jeffrey Soros, the nephew of businessman George Soros. The club has also reportedly received interest from Minnesota-based investor Maciek Kaminski.

More New Names 

Fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur is also looking for a naming rights partner for its $1.1 billion stadium that opened in 2019. Google has emerged as a favorite to land the naming rights after Nike and Amazon were reportedly top contenders for a deal in 2020.

Football Insider previously reported the Spurs could be holding out for a 10-year deal worth $32.8 million per year.