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Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Chicago Fire Muscle In On White Sox's Dream Of South Loop Stadium
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 17: New coach Gregg Berhalter of the Chicago Fire poses for a photo with ... More owner Joe Mansueto during a press conference at Waldorf Astoria Chicago on October 17, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by) The Chicago Fire is poised to end the long search for a stadium that will be embraced by soccer fans. But the Fire's gain could prove to be a loss for Jerry Reinsdorf and the Chicago White Sox. Fire owner Joe Mansueto announced on Tuesday he has reached an agreement to build a 22,000-seat stadium in the South Loop, on the 62-acre site, which the Sox had previously identified its ideal future home. Reinsdorf has said the White Sox cannot remain viable at The Rate, its home since 2003, due to an inability to generate revenue to compete with the top teams in Major League Baseball. The team released renderings of a stadium in the development known as The 78 last summer, emphasizing both the potential beauty and versatility of this underused land east of the Chicago River, but has failed to gain traction in its push for public funding for the project, estimated at $1.25 billion. Like the Bears' push for a ew stadium either in suburban Arlington Heights or downtown, the White Sox's lobbying efforts did not lead to any funding measures being introduced in the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly. You would think Reinsdorf and George McCaskey would not have enjoyed a message Mansueto is sending about privately financed sports venues. 'It is my belief that these stadiums should be privately financed,' Mansueto said. 'Most of the value accrues to the sports team. So it's only fair that the sports team shoulders the cost of its construction.' Mansueto, 68, founded the financial services firm Morningstar in 1984. His net worth is $6.6 billion, according to Forbes, which ranks him 528th in the world. He purchased the MLS' Chicago Fire in a series of transactions in 2018 and '19. Mansueto's agreement with Related Midwest involves the purchase of only 10 acres for the stadium. Both the White Sox and Related Midwest CEO Curt Bailey believe a baseball stadium could fit on the remaining acreage but not everyone agrees. Pat Dowell, an alderman for the 3rd Ward, told Crain's Chicago 'the site is too small for two stadiums.' Bailey said he hopes to have received city approval for the soccer stadium by November, allowing construction to begin with an eye of opening in 2028. The first step is a public hearing on June 16. In a statement following Mansueto's announcement, the White Sox said they 'continue to consider the site as an option. We believe in Related Midwest's vision for The 78 and remain confident the riverfront location could serve as a home to both teams. We continue to have conservations with Related Midwest about the site's possibilities and opportunities.' Chicago-based sports marketing consultant Marc Ganis told the Tribune he believes the lot is large enough to accommodate both a soccer and baseball stadium. 'It could work,' Ganis told the Chicago Tribune. 'They would have to work out the use of the infrastructure and the parking and the scheduling and things of that nature. I think it'd be great for the city.' Founded as an expansion team in 1997, the Fire has had three different home stadiums, including two stints at Soldier Field. Its fan base comes largely from the city, which limited the success of a run of 14 seasons in SeatGeek Stadium, located in suburban Bridgeview. Soldier Field lacks the intimacy and ambience of popular soccer venues forces the team to deal with terms of its lease. When Reinsdorf first began his push for public funding to drive a move to the The 78, he offered up the possibility or reconfiguring The Rate as a home for the Fire. Mansueto had other ideas, not only putting in his own claim to The 78 but promising to pay for construction.
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Could the White Sox build a new stadium next to the Fire at The 78? Don't count it out.
There may be a few more balls in the air at The 78 than just the Chicago Fire's proposed $650 million soccer stadium. In the wake of Tuesday's announcement that the Fire's privately financed, 22,000-seat stadium could open for play before the 2028 MLS season, the White Sox said they are still considering building their proposed new ballpark at the South Loop site as well, potentially creating a new pro sports nexus in Chicago. At least one industry analyst said shoehorning two new stadiums in the mostly vacant 62-acre site is not only viable, but potentially a boon for both teams and the city, as well as Related Midwest's long-dormant megadevelopment. 'It could work,' said Marc Ganis, a Chicago-based sports marketing consultant. 'They would have to work out the use of the infrastructure and the parking and scheduling and things of that nature. I think it'd be great for the city.' The Fire plan to build the open-air soccer stadium at the north end of the former rail yard along the Chicago River at Roosevelt Road. The stadium, designed by architectural firm Gensler, would feature a natural grass pitch, an array of seating — including club options and luxury suites — and an intimate setting for Fire fans to cheer on the team. As part of the proposed development, the Fire is buying 9 acres of land at The 78, the team and developer confirmed. That leaves plenty of room for the White Sox to build an adjacent ballpark, Ganis said. Last year, the White Sox proposed a new publicly funded ballpark at The 78, but Springfield lawmakers balked at the idea of contributing a reported $1 billion to build it. The team, though, has not given up on moving in, according to a statement issued Tuesday. 'Related Midwest first approached the White Sox about building a new ballpark on a piece of property they were developing, and we continue to consider the site as an option,' the White Sox said. 'We believe in Related Midwest's vision for The 78 and remain confident the riverfront location could serve as a home to both teams. We continue to have conversations with Related Midwest about the site's possibilities and opportunities.' The White Sox declined to comment further as to their plans to pursue a ballpark at The 78, as did Related Midwest. While the city needs to sign off on the proposed Fire stadium, the project will not require public funding, team owner Joe Mansueto told the Tribune. The Fire currently play at Soldier Field on a three-year lease extension. Last season, the Fire averaged 21,327 fans per game at Soldier Field, leaving the 61,500-seat stadium two-thirds empty for most matches. Ganis said the city should jump at the opportunity for a downsized, privately financed soccer stadium to draw fans and businesses to a South Loop neighborhood ripe for growth. 'They should accept this deal as quickly as they can and get it going and help them procedurally as much as they can,' Ganis said. Building adjacent stadiums is gaining traction in several markets, including Arlington, Texas, where the Dallas Cowboys play at AT&T Stadium and the Texas Rangers are a line drive away at Globe Life Field. In the Los Angeles area, SoFi Stadium, where both the Rams and Chargers play football, is next door to the Intuit Dome, the new basketball home of the Clippers. Another major market is already turning soccer and baseball teams into neighbors. In 2027, New York City FC will open that city's first soccer-specific stadium in Queens, near Citi Field, where the Mets play baseball. Whether the White Sox will be able to get the financial and political support to move into The 78, envisioned by Related Midwest as a mixed-used megadevelopment that will become Chicago's 78th neighborhood, remains to be seen. In 1988, Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the White Sox, pushed through legislation to fund a new baseball stadium after threatening to move the team to Florida. Built in 1991, the stadium, which is now called Rate Field, was primarily funded through the issuance of $150 million in hotel tax-supported bonds by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. The White Sox lease at Rate Field runs through 2029 and the sports facilities authority still owes $50 million on the ballpark. The primary incentive for the White Sox to move 3 miles north from Bridgeport to the South Loop is the opportunity to build a Wrigleyville-like neighborhood around the stadium, which has been a fan magnet for the Cubs through winning and losing seasons alike, Ganis said. 'Even when the Cubs stink on the field, they still draw' about 3 million people in the stands most seasons, Ganis said. 'That is something the White Sox are sorely missing, and it's because of the location of their stadium and how walled off it is from where people live, work and play.' The White Sox could use some home-field advantage. The team is coming off the most losses in a season in major league history, and is not faring much better this year, with the worst record in the American League through 60 games. Meanwhile, the Chicago Sports Network, the team's new TV home, remains blacked out to 1 million Comcast subscribers in the city and suburbs during an ongoing carriage dispute. Getting legislators in Springfield to help finance the new White Sox ballpark, however, may still be an issue, Ganis said. Larger markets tend to rely less on public financing for sports stadiums than smaller markets, he said. That may leave the White Sox facing a choice whether to stay in Chicago or leave for greener pastures in another city after the Rate Field lease is up. 'The question is going to come up whether the White Sox should be the No. 2 team in the third largest market, or the No. 1 team in a smaller market where the government is willing to step up and pay for a whole new stadium for them,' Ganis said. Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday sought to parlay the buzz over the Fire's announcement to build its new stadium at the The 78 site in the South Loop into a pitch for other sports teams to stay in the city. The Bears are likely leaving the city for Arlington Heights and a new stadium there. At his City Hall news conference, the mayor applauded Fire owner Mansueto for putting up his own money to keep the Major League Soccer franchise in the city while throwing down the gauntlet to other sports team owners. 'There's no reason to leave Chicago if you're a sports team. There isn't,' Johnson said. 'There's just too much soul in this city to leave it now.'
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Chicago Fire plan to build $650M soccer stadium in South Loop
CHICAGO - After nearly a decade of big swings and misses, including a recent failed bid to build a new White Sox ballpark, The 78 and developer Related Midwest may have finally found an anchor tenant to kick-start the proposed mixed-use megadevelopment in the South Loop. The Chicago Fire announced plans Tuesday for a privately financed $650 million soccer stadium at the mostly vacant 62-acre site along the Chicago River at Roosevelt Road, giving the team a "world-class home," and potentially turning the former rail yard into a bustling South Side Wrigleyville. "It's transformative for the club, and I think for the city as well," said Fire owner Joe Mansueto, 68, the founder and executive chairman of Chicago-based investment research firm Morningstar, who bought the team in 2019. Designed by architectural firm Gensler, the proposed 22,000-seat, open-air soccer stadium would be located at the north end of the long-fallow development. It would feature a natural grass pitch, an array of seating - including club options and luxury suites - and an intimate setting for fans to cheer the Fire on match days. The new stadium is scheduled to break ground as early as this fall, pending approval from the city, with a target completion date ahead of the 2028 MLS regular season. The Fire currently play at a rarely filled Soldier Field on a newly signed three-year lease extension. Mansueto said the new right-sized soccer stadium will be the perfect fit for Fire fans and the city. "I think we should sell out every game," Mansueto said. "We want to create this unrivaled match day experience." The undeveloped swath of land bordered by Roosevelt Road, Clark Street and a half-mile stretch of riverfront south of downtown Chicago, has been a field of dreams for Related Midwest since acquiring it in 2016. The ambitious plan from the outset was to create a sprawling residential, retail and commercial development that would become the city's 78th neighborhood. Over the years, The 78 has been in the running for everything from Amazon's second headquarters to a Chicago casino, but time and again, Related was unable to land that elusive anchor tenant to catalyze the megadevelopment. Last year, the White Sox proposed a new publicly funded ballpark at The 78, but Springfield lawmakers balked at the idea of contributing a reported $1 billion to build it. That's when the Fire stepped up. "We have always believed in this location and our ability to build something great, we just needed a partner," said Curt Bailey, president of Related Midwest. "All of our preparation, all of our work, all of our disappointment, got us to the perfect place where we met with Joe and the Fire, and it was a great match." While the city needs to sign off on the proposed Fire stadium, the project will not require public funding, increasingly the biggest impediment to building a new sports facility. Mansueto, a self-made billionaire who grew up in northwest Indiana and bootstrapped the launch of Morningstar from his Lincoln Park apartment in 1984, said teams should foot the bill for their own stadiums. "It is my belief that these stadiums should be privately financed," said Mansueto, who earned an MBA at the University of Chicago. "Most of the value accrues to the sports team. So it's only fair that the sports team shoulders the cost of its construction." In addition to funding the $650 million stadium, the Fire recently opened a new $100 million training facility 2 miles west of The 78 at a formerly vacant 30-acre Chicago Housing Authority site on the Near West Side. With the Bears likely leaving for a new stadium in Arlington Heights and the White Sox also recently shopping for a new home, the Chicago Fire are planting roots in the city that could substantially grow the fan base. "Joe Mansueto isn't just building a soccer stadium - he's reshaping the future of soccer in Chicago," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. "This is one of the most ambitious stadium projects in Major League Soccer history, and a powerful reflection of Joe's extraordinary commitment to the Fire, the fans, and the city." There is certainly plenty of upside for the Fire, which has yet to ignite a large following among Chicago sports fans during much of the team's somewhat itinerant 27-year history. Founded as an early Major League Soccer expansion team, the Fire began playing at Soldier Field, winning the league championship during their inaugural season in 1998. In 2006, the Fire moved into a newly built, $98 million stadium in Bridgeview, then known as Toyota Park, with a lease that ran through 2036. The 20,000-seat venue, which was rebranded as SeatGeek Stadium in 2018, was the Fire's home for 14 seasons. When Mansueto bought the Fire for about $325 million in 2019, he negotiated a $65.5 million lease buyout with Bridgeview, allowing a move back to Soldier Field, where post-pandemic attendance is rising. "We are the Chicago Fire," Mansueto said. "So it was important to me that we be in the city proper." On April 13, the Fire set an attendance record with 62,358 fans at Soldier Field for an MLS match against Inter Miami and Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi. The teams played for 90 minutes to a 0-0 draw. Last season, the Fire averaged 21,327 fans per game at Soldier Field, leaving the stadium two-thirds empty for most matches. At 61,500 seats, Soldier Field is the smallest venue in the NFL, but it is huge for the MLS, where stadiums average 25,000 to 30,000 seats. Selling out the proposed 22,000-seat soccer stadium at The 78 could be a regular occurrence, and be a much better experience for fans and players. "Having a completely full stadium, intimate, everybody's close to the pitch … should just be an awesome experience for our fans," Mansueto said. "We want to create a fortress for our team, really provide an edge that teams are intimidated coming to play us." The MLS has 30 teams playing 34 regular season matches from March through October. Mansueto said the new stadium will also host concerts and events to keep it busy throughout the year. The Fire has already retained an agent to sell stadium naming rights, a standard practice at sports venues to defray the cost. The new stadium will also likely increase the value of the franchise. Helped by the 10-year, $2.5 billion partnership with Apple TV+ inked in 2023, the value of MLS franchises continues to rise, averaging $690 million per club, with the Los Angeles Football Club, Inter Miami and the LA Galaxy all worth more than $1 billion, according to the annual Forbes list published in February. The Chicago Fire ranks 24th at $530 million, near the bottom of the list, which pegs annual revenue for the team at $51 million. "I think one of the things that has restrained the value of the club is not having our own stadium," Mansueto said. "Hopefully, after this gets done, those numbers will move upward." Building the stadium will also be central to realizing the broader vision for The 78, which includes retail, residential, outdoor gathering spaces and a half-mile riverwalk, none of which has yet come to fruition. Even Discovery Partners Institute, a University of Illinois-led initiative given free land in 2018 to build a technology innovation hub at The 78, canceled plans in October for an eight-story tower at the development, announcing the project would relocate to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park planned for the former U.S. Steel site on the city's South Side. For the past two years, The 78 has served as winter storage for the 2,200 concrete barriers that line the temporary NASCAR Chicago Street Race course in Grant Park, which will return for its third annual run during the Fourth of July weekend. More recently, the Chicago Sport & Social Club opened some pop-up pickleball courts by the river at The 78 for its summer outdoor leagues. A mini soccer pitch and softball field are also in recreational play. Bailey expects things to get a lot busier when the Fire stadium gets built, with thousands of fans descending on the site for match days, arriving by car, public transportation - including a nearby "L" station and multiple bus lines - and even by water taxi. Once there, Bailey said The 78 may feel very much like Wrigleyville during Cubs games, with festive fans strolling the neighborhood amid retail, restaurants, bars and open space for events, concerts and other activities. "The environment there, created organically over 100 years, is something that we will try to re-create, in as organic a process as we can given that we're building new," Bailey said. "But absolutely, that energy, that housing surrounding a great stadium, is exactly what we're going to create, and I think it's going to be a game changer for this part of the city." While The 78 is pre-approved for stadium use, the Fire will still need the City Council to sign off on the project. The first community meeting to discuss the proposed stadium is set for June 16, hosted by Ald. Pat Dowell, whose 3rd Ward includes The 78. Mansueto said he is confident the city and neighboring communities will get behind the Fire stadium, as will the growing ranks of Chicago soccer fans. Mayor Brandon Johnson said the stadium plan is a "good sign" for the city. "We look forward to continued conversations with the Fire and the community to make sure that this investment benefits local residents and our city as a whole," Johnson said in a statement. "If the community is supportive, the Chicago Fire would be an excellent anchor tenant for the 78 site." Chicago is one of three U.S. cities hosting the Premier League's Summer Series exhibition tournament, with AFC Bournemouth, Everton, Manchester United and West Ham United playing an evening doubleheader July 30 at Soldier Field. In September, the Premier League soccer fan fest drew a record 15,646 attendees to Lincoln Park for a weekend early morning watch party, with 10 live matches broadcast al fresco on nine large-screen TVs. Mansueto, who did not play soccer as a kid growing up in Munster, Indiana, became interested in the sport when his three kids took it up, learning it on the fly as their coach. He grew to love what is known as the "beautiful game," which led him to buy the Chicago Fire. "After I stepped down from my CEO role at Morningstar, I wanted to invest in my passions, and one of my passions was soccer," Mansueto said. "And this one nicely aligned with an investment in a sport I was passionate about, and an investment in Chicago, which I'm very passionate about." As owner, Mansueto is focused on making the team more competitive. In October, the Fire hired Gregg Berhalter, the former coach of the U.S. Men's National Team, as the new director of football and head coach. Mansueto acknowledged that the team needs to "win some trophies" to engage more Chicago sports fans. But getting a new stadium, he said, would be an important step. "I think the stadium will provide the catalyst to create that tipping point and really elevate the club and make the Chicago Fire and soccer popular." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Soccer-loving Joe Mansueto comes through for Chicago and its Fire
We're longtime fans of The 78, the 62 long-fallow acres of former railroad-owned land bordered by Roosevelt Road to the north, Clark Street to the east, 16th Street to the south, and the South Branch of the Chicago River to the west. It was our preferred site for the Chicago casino, given that it offered excellent existing public transportation, potential river frontage for a convenient suite of waterfront bars and restaurants that could have added to Chicago's riverwalk and would have displaced no one. Once the Lori Lightfoot administration made a different choice for gamblers over this swath of property owned by Related Midwest, we opined last year that the same plot of land would then be an excellent choice for a new stadium for the Chicago White Sox, which could have enjoyed much the same benefits. In both of our editorials, we emphasized another attribute of The 78 that often gets overlooked: its unique geographic ability to activate the potentially symbiotic relationship between Chicago's Loop and both Bronzeville and Chinatown. Its development will remove what for too long has been dead land and thus a psychological barrier that has been a detriment to expanding the economic promise of the South Loop further into a part of the city that we see crucial to Chicago's future. Especially if it is accompanied by housing that could attract young, Black, college-educated professionals who have left the city and who we badly need to return. Can a $650 million soccer stadium for the Chicago Fire, a privately funded plan long known to us as a work in progress but officially announced Tuesday, do all that? It may seem unlikely, but we think it can. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and the city's essential billionaire investor, Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto, is no fool. He has a sense of humor too. We had quite the chuckle over our coffee Tuesday at what he told The Wall Street Journal as he explained why he had chosen just to write a very big check, as distinct from going cap in hand, Chicago Bears-style, to City Hall or Springfield. 'It would definitely slow down the process to have to engage with political leadership to secure financing,' he told the paper. Ya think, Joe? Always easier to pay your own way, especially in Chicago. But huge public benefit can, and we think will, result. Take a look at what has been happening in Nashville thanks to Geodis Park, a 30,000-seat soccer stadium that opened in 2022, is the home of Major League Soccer club Nashville SC and will later this month host three matches as part of the newly expanded 2025 FIFA World Club Cup, putting relatively small Nashville in the company of New York, Miami, Atlanta and Los Angeles, among others (not Chicago). Geodis Park cost around $350 million, an amount almost fully funded by the team and its billionaire owner, John Ingram. As soon as the stadium opened, development around Geodis Park exploded fast. 'Townhomes have replaced older, single residencies and a growing younger demographic has emerged,' The Tennesseean reported on the one-year anniversary of the stadium. Within a matter of months, the paper said, a local development and investment firm had bought 20 duplex rental homes next to the stadium, even as real-estate values near the stadium rose and developers started to build new housing aimed at younger people. Bars and restaurants moved in too. And they're packed whenever there is a game. Fresh infrastructure also arose for ride-shares and scooters and it was hardly lost on Nashville's city leaders that much of this new tax revenue was accruing from families who live outside city limits. Granted, there were naysayers who wanted the neighborhood to stay the same but then that brings us back to the advantages of The 78; it's a big piece of empty land. That's why it was marketed as Chicago's 78th neighborhood, a riff on the 77 official community areas identified by the University of Chicago in the 1920s. All of this, of course, could still fall apart. And as with any big development project in Chicago, there likely will be those who use race and politics to snag a piece of the pie but, as he well knows, Mansueto has insulated himself and his beloved soccer club against most of that. So, as soccer fans, we congratulate Mansueto on getting to The 78 and making a firm plan before all the other players who've tried but sent the ball either wide of over the crossbar. This isn't the first time Manseuto, said by Forbes to be worth close to $7 billion, has used his formidable resources for the good of the city (remember the glory days of Manseuto's Time Out Chicago, which boosted our arts and entertainment scene?) and, of course, the University of Chicago already has myriad reasons to be thankful for one of its graduate's copious amounts of philanthropy. Soccer needs a dedicated stadium where fans can fill the place: Once this gets cooking and FIFA continues its long-overdue efforts to grow the U.S. game, we wonder if 20,000 seats will be enough. We'd have thought The 78 would have room for another 5,000 or 10,000. But that's up to Manseuto and the Chicago Fire, of course. Just as Evanston should be thankful to the Ryan family for the new football stadium at Northwestern University, almost all built with private funds, so Chicago should appreciate Mansueto for this investment in Chicago sport. Frankly, we don't have that many generous and entrepreneurial billionaires left in Illinois, given how we have chased a few of them away. But here's a $650 million reminder of how important they are to a city. They can score goals and give us all something new to cheer. Thanks, Joe.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Chicago Fire announce plans to build 22,000-seat stadium near downtown
This Chicago Fire on Tuesday announced plans to build a $650m, soccer-specific stadium in the South Loop of Chicago – a venue that will be part of a large development project called 'The 78.' The club aims to open the stadium in the spring of 2028, with the building of the venue itself requiring no public money, according to an announcement by the team's owner Joe Mansueto. It is planned to hold 22,000 spectators. The 62-acre vacant plot of land that will be used to construct 'The 78' is a former landfill and railyard along the banks of the Chicago river that has sat vacant and in development limbo for decades. The site is set to be developed by Realted Midwest, which acquired the land in 2016. The Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball have also sought to build a new stadium there, even constructing a temporary field at the site. The MLB team and Related Midwest have sought more than $1bn in public financing for the baseball stadium project. 'This project is more than just a stadium,' Mansueto said in a statement released by the team. 'It's a space for fans of all ages, backgrounds and neighborhoods to come together and celebrate the beautiful game – right in the heart of our city. It's about investing in Chicago, not just on match days, but every day as a committed community partner.' The Fire have played at a number of venues since their founding in 1998 as one of Major League Soccer's first expansion clubs. The team began their life at Soldier Field, home of the NFL's Chicago Bears, where they build a considerable home field advantage and enjoyed some of the most vocal support in MLS at the time. Extensive renovations to Soldier Field forced the team to decamp to suburban Naperville, Illinois in 2002, before the club built its own stadium, SeatGeek Stadium, which opened in suburban Bridgeview in 2006. The stadium's location and the team's own struggles led to a decline in fan interest in the club, causing Mansueto to move the Fire back to Soldier Field after purchasing sole ownership of the team in 2019. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion The site of 'The 78,' so called because it is seen as a new neighborhood in addition to the 77 that currently make up Chicago, is well served by public transportation. A home for the Fire there will be among a select group of MLS stadiums to be situated close to a home city's downtown area. When built, the Fire's stadium will be the 22nd soccer-specific stadium in the 30-team league.
