Chicago Fire owner Joe Mansueto said the team is considering building a soccer-specific stadium in Chicago, calling it the “last piece of the puzzle with this club.” On Thursday, Mansueto said the club, which currently plays at Soldier Field, has started to tour potential sites in the city.
After buying 100 percent of the Fire in 2019, Mansueto moved the team from a soccer-specific stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois back to Soldier Field, which it shares with the NFL’s Chicago Bears. As a secondary tenant in the Chicago Park District-owned stadium, the Fire loses out on dates for games to both the Bears and concerts held in the venue.
“Warm summer and fall days are truly precious, and we want as many of those as possible. However, our schedule often conflicts with the Bears and concert events,” Mansueto stated during the press conference introducing Gregg Berhalter as the new director of football and head coach. “We prefer to avoid playing during the colder months in Chicago, specifically in winter, early spring, or late fall. Scheduling at Soldier Field is a challenge, with certain sponsorship categories being restricted and limited non-gameday access to the pitch.”
In an interview with The Athletic after the press conference, Mansueto said the team has toured three sites in Chicago: a lakefront site in the Bronzeville neighborhood that was the former home of the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center; The 78, a development in South Loop where the Chicago White Sox have proposed building a new stadium; and Lincoln Yards, a development along the north branch of the Chicago River in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on the north side of the city.
“They all have their pros and cons,” Mansueto said. “We have retained some consultants to do physical feasibility analysis, but now that the Endeavor Health Performance Center is done, we’re turning our attention to the stadium. It’s early going, and I think you’ll see more in the next couple of years on that.”
This spring, The Fire will unveil the Endeavor Health Performance Center, a new $100 million training facility funded privately. Located on the west side of the city, near the Medical District neighborhood, it lies about a mile and a half south of the United Center, home to the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.
A stadium within the city limits would be a potential game-changer for a club that has struggled to resonate in the sports-rich Chicago market. The third-biggest television market in the United States with a rich soccer history, Chicago has long been considered a sleeping giant in MLS. But the team has struggled over the last decade and a half, making the playoffs just twice since 2009. A move to SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, a suburb 15 miles outside of the city, in 2006, proved to be another barrier to building the fan base. The stadium was difficult to reach via public transportation, and the arrangement with the village limited the financial upside. The Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL still use the facility.
The Fire returned to Soldier Field following Joe Mansueto’s acquisition of controlling interest from former owner Andrew Hauptman. Mansueto invested $60.5 million to terminate the team’s lease with the Village of Bridgeview ahead of schedule.
The Fire moved back to Soldier Field in 2020. (Mike Dinovo, USA TODAY Sports)
A new venue could reignite enthusiasm for the team that clinched both the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup in its inaugural season in 1998.
“A smaller venue I think would work well for us and help us connect further with our fan base,” Mansueto said. “I think it would be another element in re-energizing the club.”
The Fire is the third Chicago professional men’s team to announce it’s looking to build a new stadium, joining the Bears and the White Sox. The Bears have turned focus back to the Soldier Field site, while the White Sox plans remain up in the air. The Athletic reported Thursday that owner Jerry Reinsdorf was open to selling the team. One of the major barriers to those projects is that the teams are asking for public funds to build stadiums. The White Sox reportedly asked for more than $1 billion in public funds, according to the Chicago Tribune, while the Bears’ stadium project could cost taxpayers as much as $2.4 billion of the total $4.75 billion cost of the project, according to WTTW.
Mansueto, the founder, CEO and chairman of Morningstar, with a reported net worth of $7.1 billion, said the team would privately finance a new stadium.
“My personal view is that stadiums are not a great investment,” Mansueto stated. “They are large, expensive to maintain, and remain empty most of the time. The value they generate primarily benefits the sports team rather than the municipality. Therefore, I believe it’s fair for the sports team to own the stadium. In Illinois, particularly in Chicago, our finances are strained. Teachers and law enforcement need more funding, and we have significant pension obligations. Our city and state simply don’t have the funds, so we would opt for private financing.”
(Top photo: Melissa Tamez / Imagn Images)