CHICAGO | The Fire are moving back to The City!!!!!!!!
this is a big deal and deserves its own thread.
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the move to bridgeview was such a monumentally idiotic decision in the first place. they lost a decade and a half of brand-building in the city by wandering out there in the bridgeview wilderness.
anyone with half a brain knew it, but they were just so effing hell-bent on "soccer specific stadium" that they were willing to shoot themselves in the foot to get it. stupid. stupid. stupid. thank Pizza God this gross error in judgement is finally being rectified. |
I don't think the move to Bridge was the most hairbrained idea ever but it was obviously a failure that was somewhat predictable. You look at the demographics of Bridgeview and you think you have a ready-made market and you do. However, Bridgeview just held absolutely no appeal for those outside the immediate community/region and a team just can't survive on the neighborhood/suburbs largely within 5 miles.
It will be interseting to see what mega-development this will try to hitch to. I think the Lincoln Yards must have known this was an immenment decision and were always planning to try to lure the Fire as opposed to some 2nd tier league team. Can room be made at the 78 for a stadium? I know the Michael Reese site has been rumored but when will that ever get off the ground. |
^ the plan appears to be to play at soldier field for the time being, so time might not be a huge deal breaker for them.
if it takes 7+ years to get a new soccer stadium built at michael reese, so be it. whatever happens, now that they're gonna be back in the city again, i can't wait to take my kids to Fire games from now on! |
Never understood why they settled in some fleabag suburb in the first place.
Might re-start getting re-interested in football again. Because EPL is not played in the best day drinking Chicago timezone hours. |
Chicago Fire moving back to Soldier Field. I remember there were rumblings a few weeks ago but its more or less confirmed now: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/news...dgeview-report
This is pretty cool, I'll definitely attend games now. |
Is that McKinley Park site still a contender? Am I the only one that would like to see it away from the prime lakefront or the near NW side and in an outer neighborhood that's actually populated with the majority of Fire's fanbase - Read: hispanic?
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there is a large piece of land in brighton park next to the western stop on the orange line that someone on this forum previously speculated might make for a good soccer stadium location, but i don' think there have been any formal discussions about that site being a contender. EDIT: upon further research, that large piece of vacant land next to the western stop on the orange line is going to be taken over by the park district for their new HQ building and an adjoining 17 acre park. so that land is already spoken for. |
I would love to see a decked stadium over the Amtrack yards along the west bank of the South Branch to be considered. It would be at the crossroads of downtown and the southwest neighborhoods (i.e.Hispanic) with transit options and plenty of accessibility. Plus it would cover up an eyesore for the 78 folks which could also maybe build a future pedestrian bridge over to the stadium?
Maybe it would be cost prohibitive alternative but I'd love to see it. |
Unfortunately the club is also considering a name change to Chicago City FC... potentially as a way to alert even the most disinterested Chicagoans that the club is now playing in the city again.
I think it would be awesome to build a new Fire stadium on the Damen Silos site. Less than 1/2 mile from the Ashland Orange Line stop, lots of waterfront around it, and they could probably cut deals with the owners of a few large parking lots nearby. The Fisk power plant site could also be an option, which is close to the Halsted stop but would require a new (operable) pedestrian bridge and probably some other costly infrastructure. |
About time!
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Re: the McKinley Park site. Perhaps I've got something mixed up here. I may have been thinking of the Brighton Park site. Was there talk of a potential stadium there? - I could have sworn I heard something about this.
Anyways, I suppose this is a good spot to throw out my Southside combined Sox/Fire sports complex idea. I'll just copy and paste from a previous post: Quote:
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^ Fire's age demo's may skew millennial but you could have fooled me that a hard majority of the fanbase aren't Latino.
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Yawn
Don't expect any more attendance at SF vs where they were. Hispanics and Millennial families are the base but once the kids grow up it is forgotten. Its not covered in sports radio or TV coverage. The attendance was not much more than the minor league hockey of the Chicago Wolves that had half of the daily attendance but played many more games. It will also likely be more expensive at SF vs Toyoda park. Here is the attendance of the Fire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_...cer_attendance Chicago is totally at the bottom only second to last. Here is there attendance including the years at SF bolded. Average attendance Regular season/Play-offs 1998: 17,887/22,677 1999: 16,016/8,197 2000: 13,387/8,431 2001: 16,388/11,239 2002: 12,922/9,434 2003: 14,005/14,961 2004: 17,153/missed playoffs 2005: 17,238/11,493 2006: 14,088/10,217 2007: 16,490/17,834 2008: 17,034/17,312 2009: 14,689/21,626 2010: 15,814/missed playoffs 2011: 14,553/missed playoffs 2012: 16,407/10,923 2013: 15,228[92]/missed playoffs 2014: 16,076/missed playoffs 2015: 16,003/missed playoffs 2016: 15,602/missed playoffs 2017: 17,383/11,647 There is no growth there only a decline. If they shuttered the team no one would even know about it because it would not even make the daily news. Its simply a dead sport in the USA. |
I dunno, if tickets aren't too expensive i'm like 1000% more likely to go to a game at soldier field. Much easier to walk there than it is to take the train to midway and take a bus.
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Great, news! Can't stand going out to Bridgeview.
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https://i.imgur.com/OSGNqBr.jpg Are the South Works too far away for a Fire stadium? Might help justify better service on the Metra Electric. |
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