Chicago Stars Will Return to Northwestern Lakeside Stadium Next Year

The Chicago Stars are extending their stay at Northwestern’s 12,000-seat lakeside college football stadium.

The NWSL team played its first match at Martin Stadium last September, drawing more than 10,000 fans, before officially moving in this season. The team is last in the NWSL with a 5-15-1 record.

The Stars are set to announce their plans to stay by the lake and open up season ticket deposits for next year later Tuesday. The announcement also means Northwestern will not yet tear down the revamped Martin Stadium, which it upgraded in 2024. The school had long described the stadium as a temporary solution during construction on its new $875 million football stadium roughly one mile away.

The Stars originally wanted to follow the football team into the new Ryan Field, which will hold 35,000 people, but scrapped those plans this spring after resistance from local residents wary of private events at the stadium. Northwestern football is scheduled to play its first game in the new venue against Penn State on Oct. 2.

Since 2016, the Stars had played at SeatGeek Stadium in the southwestern suburb of Bridgeview, Ill., which is difficult to reach by public transit. The move to Evanston was initially celebrated by fans for being more accessible, but as the team struggled on the pitch this season, attendance has stayed down. The Stars are so far averaging 4,316 fans per match at home this year, according to the team, the lowest figure in the league. A Wednesday night match in late March drew fewer than 2,000 people. Season ticket sales, however, are up 31% from last year, the team says.

The Stars did not share financial details of the deal, and a representative for Northwestern did not respond to a request for comment. But a person familiar with the matter tells FOS that the Stars will pay more to use Northwestern’s facilities in 2027 than they did in 2026, with the reasoning being that they become Martin Stadium’s “primary tenant” after Northwestern football moves. (Northwestern’s defending national champion women’s lacrosse team and soccer teams also play at Martin Stadium.)

Earlier this month, the Stars fired coach Martin Sjögren, elevating assistant Karina Báez for the rest of the season. Báez said on Sunday that she views windy conditions by the lake as part of the team’s home field advantage. “It’s a beautiful view, you can see the lake, it’s a beautiful environment, but yes, [the wind is] part of our home,” Báez said in response to a question from FOS.

Stalled Plan at New Ryan Field

Northwestern added more seats to Martin Stadium, its venue for soccer and lacrosse, ahead of the 2024 college football season as the nearly century-old Ryan Field was demolished. At the time, the school told FOS football revenues would be higher at the lakeside structure than they were at the old 47,000-seat Ryan Field thanks to increased premium seat offerings.

While Martin Stadium sits within Northwestern’s campus, the school has long fought with residents in Evanston and neighboring Wilmette over its other athletic facilities located about a mile away. Residents have long complained about noise and traffic from sports and future concerts, and cited Northwestern’s property tax exemption in battles with the private university.

Local residents opposed the Stars’ request for special approval from Evanston to move into the new Ryan Field, with one local group saying it “would wreak havoc” on their communities by bringing more private events to the stadium.

The Stars said in March they would halt the effort and play all 2026 home games by the lake, citing a local “call for more dialogue and understanding” as well as Northwestern’s “desire to open the new Ryan Field in a phased approach out of consideration for its neighbors.”

While the Stars said they weren’t moving forward with their application for the Ryan Field permit “at this time,” the team said it would be “continuing to connect with the community through additional conversations, town halls, and civic engagement.”

The next month, the team got Evanston’s approval to play the 2027 season at Martin Stadium, an easier process than obtaining the up to five-year Ryan Field permit.

The team’s goal is to eventually move into Ryan Field, the source says, but the Stars aren’t planning to begin that process again until after the new stadium opens in October.

Kansas City is currently the only NWSL team with its own stadium, although 2026 expansion team Denver is building its own venue to open in 2028. (Fellow debutant Boston is also renovating its own stadium for public-private use, and last week won a Massachusetts Supreme Court case over local opponents.) The Stars are building their own training facility in the Chicago suburb of Bannockburn, slated to open next year, and have also talked about wanting to one day build their own stadium, too.

Many NWSL teams share a venue with an MLS team. In New York, Gotham FC recently announced plans to move from New Jersey into NYCFC’s new Etihad Stadium in Queens.

The Stars formerly shared SeatGeek with the Chicago Fire, who are building their own $750 million privately funded stadium in the city’s South Loop, scheduled to open in 2028.

The Fire’s current agreement with city officials for McDonald’s Park allows for 45 major events per year, excluding the playoffs, according to the team. That figure will include 17 regular-season home matches, concerts, and other community events, and the stadium doesn’t have restrictions on whether other teams can play there. The NWSL currently has 15 home games per regular season, raising the possibility that the Stars could become tenants at the Fire’s new stadium.