Could the Chicago Bears Franchise Be For Sale?

One of the oldest and most prestigious franchises in the NFL, the Chicago Bears, could go up for sale due to an "internal strife" in its current ownership, the McCaskey family, the Daily Herald's Jim O'Donnell reports.

The Bears have been in the Halas family for five generations, and the team's principal owner is Virginia Halas McCaskey, the daughter of George Halas. She is 98, and has allowed her son, George H. McCaskey, to serve as chairman of the team, Yahoo Sports reports.

O'Donnell didn't expand on which members of the McCaskey family are at odds over the decision to sell the team, but the Daily Herald article suggests that Virginia does not want to sell the team.

Virginia McCaskey is the oldest and the longest-tenured team owner in the league, but the Daily Herald reports the team could be on the market soon.

There are three main suitors for the Bears that O'Donnell mentions: Jeff Bezos, Neil Bluhm and Pat Ryan.

Both Bluhm and Ryan have a bigger connection to the Bears than Bezos has, and other individuals would probably express interest if the team were officially up for sale.

Ryan already co-owns 19.7% of the team and has one of the first options to buy up McCaskey stock if any family members decide to sell, O'Donnell said. Bluhm tried to buy that 19.7% share in 1987-88, but the team blocked the sale and instead found Andy McKenna to partner with Ryan to buy the share. 

The Bears have not won a Super Bowl since 1985, but they are one of the most popular teams in the league.