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Fire owner Joe Mansueto said that the team is actively pursuing the possibility of building its own soccer-specific stadium in Chicago. Speaking at an event introducing former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter as the Fire’s Dir of Football and Head Coach, Mansueto said, “If we can find the right parcel in Chicago, I think we’ll move forward on it.”
Mansueto said club leadership has been on several site visits, including Lincoln Yards, a 53-acre mixed-use district between Lincoln Park and Bucktown; a site in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood formerly occupied by Michael Reese Hospital site; and a proposed mixed-use development on the riverfront in the Near South Side neighborhood called The 78 that would also be home to a new ballpark for the White Sox.
Mansueto reiterated that any stadium construction project for the Fire would be privately financed, which puts the Fire in a different boat than the Bears, White Sox and NWSL Red Stars, who are all seeking public financing for stadium projects of their own.
After buying the Fire in 2019, Mansueto moved the team back from SeatGeek Stadium in suburban Bridgeview to Soldier Field, the lakefront NFL stadium near downtown Chicago. While Mansueto said today that he believes that was “a good move” and praised Soldier Field as “iconic” and “wonderful,” he acknowledged a variety of issues associated with playing at Soldier Field, including scheduling conflicts and commercial limitations.
“We share the stadium with the Bears, concerts, and so the warm summer days and fall days are really precious, and we would love to have as many of those days as possible, but we often get conflicted out with the Bears and concerts,” Mansueto said. “Certain sponsorship categories are blocked out. Nongame day access to the pitch is sometimes an issue. So, those are the limitations.”
Mansueto called a new stadium for the Fire “the last piece of the puzzle” for the revitalization of the club, which has been a cellar-dweller in both the MLS standings and attendance rankings for many years. Mansueto has invested significantly in turning things around since taking over in 2019, including by making the team a top-five spender on payroll in MLS each of the past three seasons. The Fire have seen a significant commercial uptick under President of Business Operations Dave Baldwin, who joined the club in December 2022, and is set to open the Endeavor Health Performance Center in January.
