Between 2006 and 2019, the Chicago Fire played their home games at SeatGeek Stadium, formerly known as Toyota Park.
The village of Bridgeview sought out the project in an effort to revitalize the neighborhood, but this goal was not met. The stadium cost $98 million to build.
On June 11, 2006, the Chicago Fire and the New England Revolution played in Toyota Park’s debut (3-3).
After signing a new naming rights sponsorship agreement in 2018, it was renamed SeatGeek Stadium.
The Fire never warmed up to the stadium throughout the years since it was so far from central Chicago, and in 2019 they came to an agreement with the stadium to end the lease so they could move to Soldier Field in the heart of Chicago.
A permanent concert stage and 24 executive suites are both present in SeatGeek Stadium. It can be readily enlarged to have 30,000 seats available.
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How to get to SeatGeek Stadium
Bridgeview, a Chicago suburb just 14 miles southwest of the city’s core and adjacent to Midway Airport, is where SeatGeek Stadium is situated.
Take the I-55 South exit for Harlem Avenue from downtown Chicago. After 2.5 kilometers, turn left onto Harlem Avenue and continue until you see the stadium on the right side of the street.
the La Grange Road South exit off of I-55 northbound (and I-294 southbound, which connects to I-55). Follow Archer Avenue North, merge to the left, then make a quick right onto 79th Street. Turn left onto Harlem Avenue after traveling for roughly 4 miles. Once you see the stadium on the left side of the road, continue on Harlem Avenue.
from the 95th Street exit on the I-294 northbound. After making a right onto 95th Street, head north on Harlem Avenue. until you spot the stadium, go on.
On game days, shuttle buses with an unique schedule connect the stadium to the Midway CTA Orange Line stop. From two hours before the game until 30 minutes after it ends, buses operate every 20 minutes. Take a train from Chicago’s downtown loop to Midway station. On the orange line, Midway is the last stop. It takes roughly 23 minutes to get there from the downtown Adams/Wabash stop.
The Chicago Fire left Toyota Park for what reason?
It’s been a while since the Chicago Fire stadium controversy began. But on October 8th, it formally ended. The Chicago Fire would be playing at Soldier Field for the foreseeable future, it was announced officially on the same day as the club’s 22nd anniversary and the 148th anniversary of the fire it was named after. However, this is neither the beginning nor the end of the story.
The story begins in 2004, when Peter Wilt, the general manager of the Chicago Fire, started working to have a soccer-specific stadium built in the Chicagoland area after returning to a newly refurbished Soldier Field following a couple of seasons at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville. There were a few locations that were viable, but they weren’t economically feasible due to the high cost of land in Chicago. Instead, it was decided to construct the new stadium specifically for soccer in Bridgeview, a nearby suburb of Chicago. Although the infrastructure wasn’t nearly ready to turn it into a soccer hub, the plans already in place indicated a better future. That future never actually materialized.
However, the stadium was constructed. It began with a 3-3 draw against New England in 2006, following which the Chicago Fire went on to win their following three home games. Toyota Park was still being touted at this time as the most recent success in MLS history. The MLS All-Star Game was held there that year. It appeared to be one of the league’s top stadiums for a while. It was an indication that MLS teams would soon be able to play on their own field without having to compete with NFL or even MLB teams. Then, in 2009, Seattle became a member of the league and started selling out NFL stadiums. Given how hard several other MLS clubs fought to leave their own NFL venues, it was an unprecedented event. Instead, Seattle started to enjoy the ambiance of the stadium in the city center. And as a result of their success, the rest of MLS started to copy them.
In Toyota Park’s inaugural year in 2006, the Chicago Fire would win their first and final championship. After maintaining a steady average attendance of 17,000 for a Cuauhtmoc Blanco-led side over the course of the following few years, the attendance started to drop dramatically. Toyota Park started to empty as the squad struggled on the field. As anger toward the squad on the field increased, so did anger toward the field itself. The grass appeared to be deteriorating, and complaints about the distance to the city and the absence of public transit increased. Around the area, all the ostensibly agreed-upon developments vanished. Where was the stadium’s planned water park? Other teams started to construct increasingly sophisticated training centers, leaving the Chicago Fire with just two fenced-off grass and turf soccer fields in the parking lot.
Fans started to fantasize about getting a better stadium in the city as the team itself struggled and allegations of attendance number inflation surfaced. On Twitter, potential sites started to circulate. There have been rumors of development corporations wanting to start their own soccer clubs. Fans seemed to have thought that there was a promised land within the downtown area where the team could prosper and win as an escape from the Chicago Fire’s underwhelming performances on the field at this time. They simply needed to leave Toyota Park.
Finally, they did one day. The Chicago Fire broke out of an earlier characterized as “ironclad” agreement with Bridgeview with the support of new then minority owner Joe Mansueto. For the right to no longer play there, they paid approximately $65.5M. Although that is a ridiculous sum of money, it was used to fulfill a desire that many supporters had. The club started getting ready for one more game at Toyota Park, inviting former players to come say farewell and some longtime fans to make one last journey to Bridgeview.
This is the point at which the earlier version of this narrative ended. We all seemed to be looking forward to saying a fond farewell to the Bridgeview. Have we finally achieved our goals?
That wasn’t what I witnessed at the chilly, cloudy game on September 29. I saw tears instead of happiness. I stayed around after the game. Similarly, over 50% of Section 8 did. We didn’t want any of us to go. As one of the veterans explained to me: It was comparable to the final Thanksgiving spent at your childhood home. You could have to go through a lot of traffic to get there, it might be in the middle of nowhere, but once you’re there, you’re among family. And you go each and every time. This is the last time; some members of that family may decide not to visit in the future. They are all back.
Individuals interpret endings differently, which causes them to respond differently. Examining the origins is one of the best approaches to comprehend endings.
Bridgeview was merely another stop on the route to Toyota Park for fans who had previously seen the Chicago Fire play at Soldier Field and Cardinal Stadium. However, it was also my home for a very long period. The most challenging years of the soccer fans’ lives occurred there. Many Fire supporters were put to the test by Toyota Park, and those who survived have a deeper affection for the team than before. These supporters have a connection to this location.
Then there are some that attended Toyota Park to see the Chicago Fire for the first time. They are unaware of the Fire anywhere else, according to them. Even good change can be unsettling. It’s not enjoyable to have come to love the club at this place and now struggle to continue to love them in their new home.
Every single fan has a unique background and connection to the Chicago Fire. Most people choose to do this by traveling with the club to Bridgeview and even cities like Columbus or Montreal. Toyota Park served as a shelter through lengthy bus trips and a sizable gravel parking lot. And you’ll always feel at home there.
My dad soon after the final game of the season received an email from the Chicago Fire inviting him to an event at Soldier Field on October 8th because he was one of the 68 original season ticket holders who had stuck around this long. He offered to let me go in his place, and of course I accepted. I arrived to the enormous spacecraft on the lake after a two-mile walk from Union Station to see a tiny celebration celebrating the team’s return to Soldier Field. Joe Mansueto, the club’s new owner, stood at the platform with the soccer lines and goals still in place from the USWNT game a few days before and declared his intention to sell out Soldier Field for the club’s opening game of the 2020 season.
This experience felt much closer to how I anticipated the previous game to feel. It served as training for achievement. Everyone in attendance, the majority of whom were Section 8 supporters, was visibly ecstatic. It caused you to forget what had happened and to daydream about what lay ahead. The following film and the news that the 68 original season ticket holders would receive their 2020 tickets for free captivated Twitter users. Real change had come to Chicago’s soccer scene.
I started to consider how dissimilar it actually was from the last game in Bridgeview. The Chicago Fire appeared to be leaving Toyota Park as a disappointment and approaching Soldier Field as a triumph. And it was a success that they were able to enter this Chicago landmark, but as they exited Toyota Park for the last time, something persisted.
Later on that day, a minor celebration for Pub97’s 22nd anniversary took place in the city’s downtown. There was no party for the 21st anniversary after there was a regular one hosted by the club and a sizable one hosted by the fans for the 20th anniversary. Only a small contingent of supporters attended this year because it had only been scheduled a few days prior. Even acquiring a cake was difficult; several bakers were too busy to deliver one, so we were left with a tiny piece that was no bigger than a sheet of paper.
Many of the supporters from before Toyota Park showed up for this occasion. How to pass on the club’s history to the next generation has been mentioned as one of the main issues. Chicago Fire supporters have grown up knowing their team to be a losing one. Many people haven’t even witnessed the club play for or win a trophy. There are numerous memories of previous victories that return to these old folks with a relocation to Soldier Field, but the objective today is to pass those memories on to this new generation.
one of the Chicago Fire’s main tenets. The Chicago Fire will be using this tradition as a marketing tool for their return to Soldier Field. To maintain that story, interact with the city, and assemble a better team, they will need to rely on the steadily decreasing number of devoted longtime fans. Where will this end up? It’s difficult to say. However, the entire offseason, both on and off the field, will be simultaneously terrifying, thrilling, captivating, and nerve-wracking. Whatever it is, it starts immediately for both current and former supporters.
Why is Soldier Field in Chicago Fire?
Due to a college football game the day before, the Chicago Fire played a game three days ago on a pitch that was unsuitable for any age group. It looked awful for the Fire, Soldier Field, and the City of Chicago with divots all over the field and green paint obscuring the gridlines and logos.
For tonight’s match against New York City FC, the Fire will be temporarily playing at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. This is so because the Chicago Bears, Soldier Field’s second tenant, have a five-day window in their stadium agreement. The Fire can’t play there tonight because the Bears host the Lions on Sunday.
Two enormous symbols that serve as a reminder that the Fire are underdogs in their own stadium.
The Bears inked a purchase agreement for the Arlington International Racecourse late last night after we had all gone to bed, probably to use the property for the construction of a new stadium. The most well-liked team in the city wants to leave the municipal limits, which has Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot understandably incensed. She told The Athletic:
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The City sees this as a business choice, just as the Bears do. Both the Chicago Park District and the local economy will benefit from Soldier Field’s hefty contracts with the Chicago Fire this season and the Shamrock Series, which it hosted just last weekend.
If Lightfoot desires to highlight the “It would be wonderful if, going ahead, the Fire were treated a little better at their own home rather than having a large deal with them when it’s politically advantageous. After all, the Fire are the ones that really desire to play in the city.
Anyway, here is the information you require on tonight’s game at Bridgeview. After tonight, the Fire will have won five of their final six away games because, you know.
Where is Chicago Fire filmed?
On Chicago’s West Side, a working firehouse served as the backdrop for much of the exterior scenes for Firehouse 51. The address of the Engine 18 station is S. Blue Island Avenue. Although it is a functioning firehouse, the area has seen a considerable amount of visitors since the first episode.
Cinespace Chicago Film Studios is where the interior scenes for Firehouse 51 were shot. The faade of the station, however, is frequently referenced in the interior sections. Fun fact: The creators of Firehouse 51 originally intended for it to feature a sliding pole because to the iconic iconography within fire stations in cinema and television. The series pilot’s production even included a sliding pole. However, Engine 18 and the majority of the modern firehouses in Chicago are one-story structures. Chicago Fire removed the pole to match Engine 18 in order to be faithful to the scene.