Chicago Fire FC unveils renderings for $650M stadium
Dive Brief:
Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire FC has shared renderings and construction details of the team's $650 million stadium in the city's downtown, according to a news release.
The new structure, designed by San Francisco-based architect Gensler and announced in early June, will seat approximately 22,000 fans, according to the news release. Around the stadium are riverfront views and open public plazas, alongside a variety of hospitality spaces and amenities.
The stadium will be the catalyst for the first phase of The 78, a 62-acre master plan development for a walkable, pedestrian-oriented mixed-use campus designed by Gensler, according to the news release.
Dive Insight:
The 78 will feature a 24/7 district with new residential and commercial buildings, a half-mile riverwalk and a network of interconnected community spaces that support year-round programming. The initial phase will include restaurants, storefronts and a range of complementary spaces.
The stadium will be entirely privately financed by the club's owner, Joe Mansueto, who is the executive chairman of Chicago-based financial services firm Morningstar.
Seating options include 50 suites, more than 500 loge seats and 3,500 club seats, according to the franchise, including some with access to exclusive clubs-within-clubs. The seating bowl will be covered by an exposed steel canopy that the team claims will enhance the home-field advantage of Fire matches by directing light and crowd noise back to the pitch.
Additionally, a dedicated supporter section will be built at the core of the stadium, per the release. The section is purpose-built to be loud with room for approximately 2,000 fans on safe-standing bleachers.
The venue will also be designed to host international soccer matches, rugby matches, concerts, festivals and live performances, the club said in the release.
Construction at The 78 is anticipated to begin by the beginning of 2026, and the new stadium is expected to open in 2028, according to the Chicago Fire. A contractor has not been announced.
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TechCrunch
6 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
A top designer was banned from Dribbble. Now he's building his own competitor.
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All instantly deleted, because a client asked for my email. One warning. No appeal. They didn't care about the community. Just their 3% cut. Dribbble is… — Gleb Kuznetsov (@glebich) July 29, 2025 Shortly after his social media post, Dribbble users expressed their shock and anger over the decision, crediting Kuznetsov as one of their biggest inspirations and lamenting that the platform would make such a misguided move. Dribbble, meanwhile, says Kuznetsov was actually warned multiple times that he was violating the new rules and the email was the final notice. Dribbble's pivot to a marketplace The issue has to do with a more recent policy change first announced on March 17, 2025. Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW In an email shared in March with Dribbble's some 750,000 approved designers — meaning those who are authorized to communicate with others on the platform — the company said it was no longer allowing designers to share their contact information with prospective clients until after their client sent payment through its platform. The company positioned this change as one meant to protect designers from non-payment, as well as one that allows Dribbble to continue to sustain its business. The announcement was also posted to social media and the company blog. Image Credits:Dribbble However, Kuznetsov claims that non-payment isn't a very common problem, and really, this update is about Dribbble attempting to take a larger cut of designers' business. Dribbble doesn't dispute that. Before the policy change, Dribbble made money in one of two ways. Starting in September 2024, Dribbble began pivoting to a marketplace that connected designers and clients. Designers could communicate freely on the platform and then either share a 3.5% revenue cut on clients they converted, or they could pay for a Pro subscription to skip the rev share. In March, the company tightened the rules further, saying that anyone finding clients on Dribbble would need to offer the platform a cut of their revenue. 'It went from it was optional to use our transactional features to it was required for non-advertisers to use our transactional features, if they were on Dribbble, to find clients,' explains Dribbble CEO Constantine Anastasakis, in an interview with TechCrunch. 'If a user is on Dribbble to find inspiration or to get feedback on their work, or to talk shop with their peers, none of this affects them,' he added. Image Credits:Dribbble The exec, who joined the company after working at direct-to-consumer lender Lower, video marketplace Pond5 (exited to Shutterstock), and freelancer marketplace Fiverr, was hired last April to pivot Dribbble into a marketplace. While the company is profitable under parent company Tiny, it's still a small 20-person team and isn't reliant on venture backing to serve its 7.5 to 10 million monthly unique visitors. 'Dribbble was something that really accelerated our business dramatically back in the day,' Kuznetsov told TechCrunch. Before Dribbble, there was no platform where designers could share their work wth others, he says. It helped designers receive feedback that came specifically from their peers and allowed newer designers to learn from those at the top of the industry. Kuznetsov is now part of the latter group. At Milkinside, Kuznetsov has worked with companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Scandinavian Airlines, United Airlines, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, and other large companies in the Bay Area. As a result, he likely didn't feel that Dribbble would risk banning him for not abiding by the new terms. Anastasakis essentially confirmed this to be true. He told TechCrunch that Kuznetsov received 83 work inquiries since the new terms rolled out in March, and responded to 61. In each message, the site shows a warning that reminds users that contact details should not be shared before project payment. However, Kuznetsov shared his contact information in six messages, which would have displayed a stronger warning at that time. Image Credits:Dribbble Image Credits:Dribbble The company then followed up with a warning email on July 22 about his repeated terms-of-service violations, which informed him he was risking permanent suspension. Kuznetsov told us he didn't see this email initially, but Dribbble says it tracked that the email was opened three times before his suspension. 'I believe that Dribbble — it was their goal to hurt me so I can spread that [news] so they can give a harsh lesson to everyone who tries [to break the rules],' Kuznetsov says. Dribbble's CEO Anastasakis confirmed as much to TechCrunch. 'There's there's really no conceivable way in which he did not realize that what he was doing risked permanent suspension of his accounts,' Anastasakis told us. 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Newsweek
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George Russell Gives Timeline Update on 2026 Mercedes F1 Contract
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