Editing Chicago Bears (section)

===Ownership history===
[[File:Halas-Sternaman-grange-bears.jpg|thumb|340px|[[Edward Sternaman|Sternaman]] and [[George Halas|Halas]] with [[Red Grange|Grange]] and [[C. C. Pyle|Pyle]]]]
The club was founded by [[A. E. Staley|A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company]] owner Augustus Eugene Staley in 1919 and was owned by the company until 1921. In 1921, Staley felt he could no longer afford the expensive burden of pro-football and transferred team ownership to Halas and paid him $5,000 for a sponsorship deal that kept the Staleys name for one more year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1869-1939/1921/|title=Staleys Claim the APFA Championship|work=Pro Football Hall of Fame}}</ref> Halas than added [[Edward Sternaman|Edward "Dutch" Sternaman]] as a second owner. On January 28, 1922, the Bears were incorporated at an NFL meeting, as "a new league team" after its name change.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willis |first=Chris |date=August 19, 2010 |title=The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7670-5 |pages=141–142}}</ref><ref name="1922season" /> At season's end, the two competed with agent [[Bill Harley (agent)|Bill Harley]] for ownership of the Staleys, after he negotiated a contract that was to give his brother [[Chic Harley]] and himself one-third ownership of the team as part of his contract. However, Halas and Sternaman claimed that the contract was voided when a physical revealed health impairments resultant from Harley's time in the war. The other league owners agreed to nullify the deal in favor of the Halas/Sternaman partnership by an 8–2 vote.<ref name="1922season">{{cite web|url=https://www.profootballresearchers.org/articles/A_Few_More_Loose_Ends.pdf|title=A Few More Loose Ends|work=The Professional Football Researchers Association|access-date=September 12, 2023|archive-date=October 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007040032/https://www.profootballresearchers.org/articles/A_Few_More_Loose_Ends.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, Halas and Sternaman offered a share of the team to Paddy Driscoll, but the move was blocked by the owners in the NFL's June meeting, after the [[Chicago Cardinals]] (Driscoll's team) activated the league's [[reserve clause]].<ref name="1922season" />

In 1931, Sternaman offered to sell his stake to Halas for $38,000 to focus on his other businesses. Halas' purchase agreement with Sternaman was to be paid off in installments, and stipulated that if Halas defaulted on any of the payments, ownership of the team reverted to Sternaman. Halas raised the initial funding by selling an 8.33% ownership stake to [[Ralph Brizzolara]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-12-19-8503280078-story.html|title=FLORENCE BRIZZOLARA, 87; FRIEND OF HALAS OWNED PART OF BEARS|work=Chicago Tribune|date=December 19, 1985|access-date=September 13, 2023|archive-date=October 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007040036/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-12-19-8503280078-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as $5,000 of shares to [[Jim McMillen]], and [[George Trafton]]'s mother, who paid $20,000 (Halas later bought her out for $40,000).<ref name="m976">{{cite web | last=Larkin | first=Will | title=Ranking the 100 best Bears players ever: No. 28, George Trafton | website=Chicago Tribune | date=2019-08-09 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2019/08/09/ranking-the-100-best-bears-players-ever-no-28-george-trafton/ | access-date=2024-08-26 | archive-date=August 26, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240826193709/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2019/08/09/ranking-the-100-best-bears-players-ever-no-28-george-trafton/ | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Charles Bidwill]] purchased $5,000 in stock in 1933 (which was later bought off of his widow [[Violet Bidwill Wolfner|Violet]] for $50,000 in 1949<ref name="q877">{{cite web | last=Olsen | first=Jack | title=The Unhappiest Millionaire | website=Sports Illustrated Vault | date=1960-04-04 | url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1960/04/04/the-unhappiest-millionaire | access-date=2024-08-26 | archive-date=August 1, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801193523/https://vault.si.com/vault/1960/04/04/the-unhappiest-millionaire | url-status=live }}</ref>) and he also arranged a bank loan for the remaining $5,000 needed to pay off Sternaman:
{{Blockquote|But it was a mighty close call. As I remember, I finally got all the money together at 11:10 a.m. on the day the final note came due. Forfeit time was 12 o'clock noon.|[[George Halas]], ''That's The Way the Ball Bounces'', 1967}}
Halas remained the club's president and principal owner until his death on October 31, 1983.

Halas' children, [[George Halas Jr.|George "Mugs" Halas Jr.]] and Virginia McCaskey acquired stock in the team through prior gifts and sales. After Mugs' death in 1979, Halas Sr. owned a 49.35% interest in the Bears, Mugs' estate owned a 19.67% interest, while Virginia McCaskey, [[Jim Finks]] (3.5%, which he later relinquished when he resigned as the team GM<ref name="s614">{{cite web | last=Pompei | first=Dan | title=Ranking the best decisions in Bears history: Mike Ditka, Richard Dent and the T-formation | website=The Athletic | date=2023-06-27 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4578961/2023/06/27/chicago-bears-best-decisions-rankings/ | access-date=2024-08-26 | archive-date=August 26, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240826193622/https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4578961/2023/06/27/chicago-bears-best-decisions-rankings/ | url-status=live }}</ref>), Charles Brizzolara, Robert and Carol Brizzolara in joint tenancy, and Nancy Lorenz owned the remaining outstanding shares. In 1981, the shareholders merged the Bears with a newly formed Delaware-incorporated organization, the '''Chicago Bears Football Club, Inc.'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/in-re-estate-of-halas-1|title=ESTATE OF GEORGE S. HALAS, JR., Deceased|work=Casetext}}</ref>

In 1987, Mugs' estate executor wanted to sell his ownership stake and challenged the legality of a 1981 corporate reorganization and the other owners' [[right of first refusal]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/02/business/chicago-bears-unhappy-heirs-and-a-stock-dispute.html|title=CHICAGO BEARS, UNHAPPY HEIRS, AND A STOCK DISPUTE|work=The New York Times|date=August 2, 1987|last1=Phillips|first1=Stephen|access-date=September 13, 2023|archive-date=October 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007040030/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/02/business/chicago-bears-unhappy-heirs-and-a-stock-dispute.html|url-status=live}}</ref> while his heirs, Christine and Stephen Halas, wanted to keep their father's stake, asking a Cook County Probate Court judge not to allow the sale.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-01-21-8803240084-story.html|title=SON MAKES PLEA TO HOLD BEARS STOCK|work=Chicago Tribune|date=January 21, 1988 }}</ref> Ultimately they failed to block the Chicago Bears from buying their father's 19.67% ownership stake of the team, which sold for $17.5 million in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-03-10-8804060125-story.html|title=HALAS HEIRS FAIL TO BLOCK BEARS PURCHASE OF STOCK|work=Chicago Tribune|date=March 10, 1988|access-date=September 13, 2023|archive-date=October 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007040034/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-03-10-8804060125-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Bears then-president [[Michael McCaskey]] called the purchase a "terrific financial burden", and the team would later sell the stake to Chicago-area businessmen Andrew McKenna and Patrick Ryan for a then-undisclosed sum{{efn|At the time it was estimated the Bears received between $20 million to $40 million, but later reports indicated the amount was $17 million.}} in 1990.<ref name="u724">{{cite web | last=Mitchell | first=Fred | title=BEARS' 20-PERCENT STOCK SALE LIFTS MAJOR BURDEN | website=Chicago Tribune | date=1990-06-07 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/06/07/bears-20-percent-stock-sale-lifts-major-burden/ | access-date=2024-08-26 | archive-date=August 26, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240826193538/https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/06/07/bears-20-percent-stock-sale-lifts-major-burden/ | url-status=live }}</ref> At the time it was also speculated that they invested to help the Bears lobby lawmakers for a domed stadium.<ref name="c387">{{Cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Melissa |last2=Hopkins |first2=Jared S. |date=2013-07-28 |title=McCaskeys intend to hold onto Bears |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/07/28/mccaskeys-intend-to-hold-onto-bears-2/ |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=Chicago Tribune |archive-date=August 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240826193538/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/07/28/mccaskeys-intend-to-hold-onto-bears-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017, the NFL approved a sale of shares from Mugs' children (unreported whom or how much) to the McCaskey family for an undisclosed sum.<ref name="l406">{{cite web | last=Gantt | first=Darin | title=Halas grandchildren want to sell shares of team to McCaskeys | website=NBC Sports | date=2017-03-27 | url=https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/halas-grandchildren-want-to-sell-shares-of-team-to-mccaskeys | access-date=2024-08-26 | archive-date=October 7, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007040030/https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/halas-grandchildren-want-to-sell-shares-of-team-to-mccaskeys | url-status=live }}</ref>

On February 6, 2025, Virginia McCaskey died at the age of 102.<ref name="Finley-25">{{cite news |last=Finley |first=Patrick |url=https://www.wbez.org/obituary/2025/02/06/virginia-mccaskey-bears-obit-dies-102-halas |title=Chicago Bears matriarch Virginia McCaskey dies at 102 |work=[[WBEZ]] |date=February 6, 2025 }}</ref>