Chicago Stars FC will bid farewell to the Village of Bridgeview after a ten-year stadium partnership. The franchise is officially moving on from SeatGeek Stadium and has named Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium the Stars’ new home for the upcoming 2026 NWSL season, the club announced on Wednesday.
“This move to Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium in 2026 marks a historic step for the club and a new era for the Chicago Stars,” said Chicago Stars president Karen Leetzow. “This is just one step in a series of changes, including the recent hiring of renowned head coach, Martin Sjogren, exciting international player acquisitions and other incredible initiatives that are soon to be announced and will set the club on a new trajectory.”
The announcement comes ahead of the Stars’ lease deadline, which expires at SeatGeek Stadium at the end of the year. Fans will get a first glimpse of the Stars’ new stadium on Sunday, when they host reigning NWSL Champions Orlando Pride in what the club is marketing as the “Lakefront Faceoff,” a reference to the ambiance around the facility.
Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium rests on Lake Michigan, with views of the iconic Chicago skyline from Evanston, Illinois. The stadium was constructed as an interim facility while a replacement is constructed for Ryan Field, the home of Northwestern Wildcats Football. It is one of many multi-use sports fields across Lakefront Athletics and Recreation Complex of the University, which also features Lakeside Field, a field hockey pitch, among others.
“I am happy to welcome the Chicago Stars to Evanston. The club’s commitment to our community through their youth programming and their collaboration with our local businesses will serve as an inspiration for the next generation and create a strong connection between the club and our community,” said Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.
The capacity for Martin Stadium is just north of 12,000, smaller than the 20,000-seat SeatGeek Stadium, and it is an iron turf field instead of grass.
Though selling out matches and filling the stands has been a long-standing issue for the NWSL franchise. The club’s highest attendance at the suburban Bridgeview came before the pandemic, with 17,388 in the stands for a welcome home match following the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and a near 10,000 mark during their 2019 NWSL semifinal match.
A change in ownership group led by Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts during the fall of 2023 was met with enthusiasm and came with at least possible expectations to eventually find a solution for the club and its attendance woes. Complaints around SeatGeek have often been tied to its location and lack of convenient public transportation to the stadium. The franchise would often share parts of the stadium with other sporting tenants, local community festivals in the parking lots, and other special events or concerts.
For most of the decade they were not the primary tenant, often sharing the facility with Chicago Fire FC, who broke their lease in 2019 and now play games at Soldier Field. While Fire FC moved game days out of Seatgeek, they still used training grounds at Bridgeview until their new training facility in Chicago’s Near West Side opened in May. The MLS side recently announced plans to build its own stadium within the city’s South Loop. The $650 million project will be privately funded and has an ambitious timeline to open by 2028.
Last season, the Stars held a special event at Wrigley Field and hosted a regular season match where the club set an attendance record of over 35,000. It was a snapshot of the club and the league for Chicagoans’ affinity for sporting events.
Martin Stadium will be another opportunity for the club to gauge accessibility to Stars FC games moving forward. There are a multitude of options for fans attending future games, including various public transportation options from CTA to suburban PACE bus options, or even biking up the lakefront path.
A new home facility has been the most obvious pressing issue for the franchise, amongst other sporting business changes, including a rebrand, to turn things around. A move to Evanston will be a new frontier for new ownership to test out more permanent solutions. The club announcement did not confirm that Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium would be the Stars’ permanent home, but only the home base for the 2026 NWSL season.
