The Chicago Stars FC are moving closer to the city.
After 12 years playing at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview—nearly 20 miles southeast of the city—the team will officially move to Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium beginning with the 2026 season. On Sept. 7, the team will host the Orlando Pride at Northwestern Medicine Field, giving fans a look at their new digs.
The Stadium is significantly smaller than SeatGeek with just 12,000 seats compared to the 20,000 capacity of their current home. But Stars president Karen Leetzow says the move to a smaller venue will actually benefit the team.
“This is an interesting period in women’s soccer,” Leetzow told Front Office Sports. “We’re on this rapid growth trajectory. But we’re also still too small for some of the major stadiums—including many of the stadiums, if not all of the stadiums, here in Chicago. To get the right fan experience, for us to be in a stadium of about 12,000 people, it just sizes the experience in a way that makes everyone better.”
The Stars have sold more than 8,000 tickets for Sunday’s match against the Pride, which Leetzow says is about three times what the team is able to sell in Bridgeview. Martin Field also has an iron turf field, whereas the Stars played on grass at Bridgeview.
The team will continue to practice at Bridgeview as they pursue plans to build an individual training facility. Leetzow says they’re in the process of finding land for that facility and aren’t ready to share a timeline for when they expect it to be built.
The Stars stadium plans beyond the 2026 season aren’t solidified.
“We have a short-term plan and are working on a long-term plan,” Leetzow says. “But I’m not at the point where I can say what we’re doing next year. We’d love to stay in Evanston longer. That’d be great. But there’s nothing finalized at this point.”
Leetzow says the team will know in the next three to four months whether there will be an extended future in Evanston.
The team hasn’t begun selling 2026 season tickets, so the move won’t impact current season ticket holders. They’ll have early access to season tickets for next year, at which point they’ll be able to select their new seats.
“This is a big reset for this club to go from Bridgeview to Evanston,” Leetzow says. “Bridgeview is [20] miles [from Chicago] but it’s probably a two-hour drive in traffic. For us, we were looking at this as a transformative reset for this club.”
