Chicago Bears principal owner Virginia Halas McCaskey has died at the age of 102, the team announced Thursday.
McCaskey had served as the Bears’ principal owner since Oct. 31, 1983, when her father and franchise founder George Halas passed away.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) February 6, 2025
McCaskey had been both the oldest and longest-tenured principal owner in the NFL, having owned the Bears for over four decades. She has not been a particularly hands-on owner in recent years, leaving most of the football decisions to top brass such as team president Kevin Warren. There had been increasing rumors in the past several years that she and her family might look to sell the franchise which has been family-owned since its inception, but no steps were ever really taken to do so.
McCaskey was a trailblazer in many ways, as one of the first prominent female owners in professional sports. She and her husband Ed had 11 children, and 13 members of the family still hold a stake in the franchise, so the succession plan for ownership is not publicly known. Her son George currently serves as the team’s chairman, and the team’s football operations department reports directly to him.
The Bears just made a splashy head coach hire and are entering a new era led by quarterback Caleb Williams. They will now do so with a change in ownership as well, though it remains to be seen just how significant those changes prove to be.
