Tnetennba Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 3 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said: Some more interesting details about the proposed new Fire stadium: https://chicagoyimby.com/2025/06/additional-renderings-and-details-revealed-for-chicago-fire-fc-stadium.html It sounds like they're planning to build an extension of LaSalle St from Roosevelt Rd to avoid a more expensive project to realign the Metra tracks. The article even mentions access to two adjacent parking garages! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tnetennba Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 Those renderings look fantastic. It could have and should have been us. Thanks Jerry. Just f*** off already and let us have nice things... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Look at Ray Ray Run Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 22 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said: It's not just that tweet from the Fire, this was in the Trib, Sun-Times and the local TV news yesterday as the Fire has released renderings of their new stadium at the 78 to the press. Very impressive. But, I'm a bit surprised they're going with a 22k capacity stadium given soccer's potential to really grow in the coming years. I wonder if there will be the ability to expand seating capacity later. https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/2025/06/16/chicago-fire-stadium-south-loop-renderings-the-78-joe-mansueto The Fire also say that they are open to the possibility of the White Sox building a stadium on the 78. I'll take their word for it over Brodie Brazil. I've been hearing soccer was ready to explode in popularity in the US for 30 years. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77 Hitmen Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 (edited) 3 hours ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said: I've been hearing soccer was ready to explode in popularity in the US for 30 years. Do you not think soccer is more popular now in the US than it was 30 years ago? I'm not sure if MLS even existed 30 years ago. This isn't the 1970s where the NASL and the Chicago Sting went defunct due to lack of support. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/mls-sponsorships-spike-as-us-soccer-gains-popularity.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/vitascarosella/2024/09/17/soccer-fandom-is-booming-in-america-according-to-new-report/ Edited June 18 by 77 Hitmen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 8 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said: Do you not think soccer if more popular now in the US than it was 30 years ago? I'm not sure if MLS even existed 30 years ago. This isn't the 1970s where the NASL and the Chicago Sting went defunct due to lack of support. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/mls-sponsorships-spike-as-us-soccer-gains-popularity.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/vitascarosella/2024/09/17/soccer-fandom-is-booming-in-america-according-to-new-report/ Yeah, the fact they are building 20k plus stadiums for pro soccer in multiple US cities right now tells me soccer has exploded in popularity in the last 30 years. Sure it might not be on par with the big 4, but it HAS grown a ton. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77 Hitmen Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 (edited) I came across this Sox Machine article from last fall that discussed how Related Midwest wants both the Fire and the White Sox at the 78 with the departure of U of I for the quantum campus on the south side. https://soxmachine.com/2024/10/related-midwest-wants-both-the-white-sox-and-fire-for-project-78 Edited June 18 by 77 Hitmen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tray Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 (edited) Regarding the latest proposed site plan: It doesn't look like there is any access directly from Clark street (which ramps down for several blocks along the RR tracks). Anyway, I am wondering about details of the proposed ramp at the intersection of LaSalle and Randolph. Do you suppose that Related is proposing a stoplight at the top of that ramp? I can't discern that detail on the site plan. Also, how steep would that that ramp need to be in order to work down to 13th St. ? Something like S. Kedzie next to the former Nabisco plant ("Nabisco hill" as we called it when we were kids) ? Edited June 18 by tray 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tray Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 (edited) LOL @ Kyle. Access off Randolph in some form or another could be a game changer for this parcel as well as provision for a sufficient amount of parking. Coming from the South via Wells is not a good solution for a lot of traffic. Interesting plan though. Good luck to the Fire. Edited June 18 by tray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 https://www.mlb.com/news/a-s-break-ground-on-new-las-vegas-stadium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Mite Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 On 6/18/2025 at 12:46 PM, 77 Hitmen said: Do you not think soccer is more popular now in the US than it was 30 years ago? I'm not sure if MLS even existed 30 years ago. This isn't the 1970s where the NASL and the Chicago Sting went defunct due to lack of support. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/mls-sponsorships-spike-as-us-soccer-gains-popularity.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/vitascarosella/2024/09/17/soccer-fandom-is-booming-in-america-according-to-new-report/ Before the Sting we had the Chicago Mustangs who were owned by White Sox owner Arthur Allyn and played home games in Comiskey. They lasted 2 years, 1967 and 68. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77 Hitmen Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 (edited) 1 hour ago, The Mighty Mite said: Before the Sting we had the Chicago Mustangs who were owned by White Sox owner Arthur Allyn and played home games in Comiskey. They lasted 2 years, 1967 and 68. Interesting, that was before my time and I don't remember hearing about them. I do remember that the Sting played at both Comiskey and Wrigley and won the NASL championship at Comiskey Park in 1981 - the first Chicago pro sports championship since the 1963 Bears. I also remember that their big star was Karl Heinz Granitza. Edited June 23 by 77 Hitmen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77 Hitmen Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 (edited) 2 hours ago, caulfield12 said: https://www.mlb.com/news/a-s-break-ground-on-new-las-vegas-stadium It'll be very interesting to see how that glass dome view of the Vegas strip looks when this place opens. I noted some interesting items from this article: - The ballpark will sit on only 9 acres of the 36-acre property. The same amount of acreage of the proposed Fire stadium at the 78. - Fisher is paying $1.4B in private financing toward the stadium. Did you hear that, Jerry? - The A's will go from the largest foul area (in Oakland) to the smallest foul area in the majors - Seating capacity is only 33,000. Edited June 24 by 77 Hitmen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 On 6/18/2025 at 7:53 AM, Tnetennba said: The article even mentions access to two adjacent parking garages! Will the river bed swallow them like a gigantic kaiju? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptatc Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 2 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said: It'll be very interesting to see how that glass dome view of the Vegas strip looks when this place opens. I noted some interesting items from this article: - The ballpark will sit on only 9 acres of the 36-acre property. The same amount of acreage of the proposed Fire stadium at the 78. - Fisher is paying $1.4B in private financing toward the stadium. Did you hear that, Jerry? - The A's will go from the largest foul area (in Oakland) to the smallest foul area in the majors - Seating capacity is only 33,000. That's a really small stadium. Has to be the smallest in MLB for a permanent home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2024/06/05/smallest-mlb-stadiums-ranked/73950295007/ Fenway Loan Depot and Progressive. GRate should be right there with diminished capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lip Man 1 Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 2 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said: It'll be very interesting to see how that glass dome view of the Vegas strip looks when this place opens. I noted some interesting items from this article: - The ballpark will sit on only 9 acres of the 36-acre property. The same amount of acreage of the proposed Fire stadium at the 78. - Fisher is paying $1.4B in private financing toward the stadium. Did you hear that, Jerry? - The A's will go from the largest foul area (in Oakland) to the smallest foul area in the majors - Seating capacity is only 33,000. Jerry's ears are closed. It's 200 million (maybe) or you'll get nothing and like it! 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WBWSF Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 7 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said: Jerry's ears are closed. It's 200 million (maybe) or you'll get nothing and like it! 😉 Do you really think that JR at 89 years old is going to put money towards a new stadium? If anything the new owner is going to have to come up with the money. I wish that some sort of announcement would come about the stadium situation. Even if it means they're extending the lease at the present stadium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Mite Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 (edited) On 6/18/2025 at 12:48 PM, southsider2k5 said: Yeah, the fact they are building 20k plus stadiums for pro soccer in multiple US cities right now tells me soccer has exploded in popularity in the last 30 years. Sure it might not be on par with the big 4, but it HAS grown a ton. I like soccer and it has grown but it will never come close to the popularity of the 4 major pro sports. Too much competition from Baseball in the summer and football, hockey and basketball in fall and spring. Edited June 24 by The Mighty Mite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan18 Posted June 24 Author Share Posted June 24 On 6/18/2025 at 11:46 AM, 77 Hitmen said: Do you not think soccer is more popular now in the US than it was 30 years ago? I'm not sure if MLS even existed 30 years ago. This isn't the 1970s where the NASL and the Chicago Sting went defunct due to lack of support. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/mls-sponsorships-spike-as-us-soccer-gains-popularity.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/vitascarosella/2024/09/17/soccer-fandom-is-booming-in-america-according-to-new-report/ NASL's big problem was they over extended themselves. They got too big too quickly and didn't have a salary cap or anything to keep player costs from getting inflated beyond levels the teams could afford. MLS has gone the opposite route, moving very slowly to open up spending rules, which at this point is a detriment to its growth in popularity, since it's clearly seen as well below the other soccer that's readily available (Premier League, UCL, La Liga, etc.) 2 hours ago, The Mighty Mite said: I like soccer and it has grown but it will never come close to the popularity of the 4 major pro sports. Too much competition from Baseball in the summer and football, hockey and basketball in fall and spring. Soccer as a whole is probably #4 as it stands, when you consider viewership of everything nationwide, including the Mexican league which is huge in that community. But MLS remains light-years behind the NHL and won't get close until they open up spending and really compete with Europe, to draw the Eurocentric viewers who look down at it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77 Hitmen Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 (edited) 12 hours ago, caulfield12 said: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2024/06/05/smallest-mlb-stadiums-ranked/73950295007/ Fenway Loan Depot and Progressive. GRate should be right there with diminished capacity. Caution fellow Sox fans who have a fragile ego, are easily angered, and/or have a huge chip on their shoulder about ballpark "best to worst" rankings, do NOT click on the link in this article that says "*Rankings listed based on USA Today's rankings". Reality hurts. Here's a more complete list of ballpark seating capacity rankings. Dodger Stadium is the highest by far. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2025/05/23/mlb-stadiums-ranked-by-capacity-biggest-smallest/83815207007/ Yes, the new A's stadium would be the lowest capacity. Though the Rays have artificially lowered the seating capacity at Tropicana Field (which was not on the list) in recent years to about 25k by putting a tarp over the upper deck and closing it off to fans. Otherwise, the 2nd lowest after Las Vegas will be the 3 you mentioned with Cleveland the lowest of the three at 34,830. "Jacobs Field" used to seat 42k and they actually had 455 consecutive sellouts there up until 2001. But those days are long gone and they've lowered seating capacity after a couple of renovations. Rate Field is #19 as far as seating capacity goes. Edited June 24 by 77 Hitmen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptatc Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 21 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said: Caution fellow Sox fans who have a fragile ego, are easily angered, and/or have a huge chip on their shoulder about ballpark "best to worst" rankings, do NOT click on the link in this article that says "*Rankings listed based on USA Today's rankings". Reality hurts. Here's a more complete list of ballpark seating capacity rankings. Dodger Stadium is the highest by far. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2025/05/23/mlb-stadiums-ranked-by-capacity-biggest-smallest/83815207007/ Yes, the new A's stadium would be the lowest capacity. Though the Rays have artificially lowered the seating capacity at Tropicana Field (which was not on the list) in recent years to about 25k by putting a tarp over the upper deck and closing it off to fans. Otherwise, the 2nd lowest after Las Vegas will be the 3 you mentioned with Cleveland the lowest of the three at 34,830. "Jacobs Field" used to seat 42k and they actually had 455 consecutive sellouts there up until 2001. But those days are long gone and they've lowered seating capacity after a couple of renovations. Rate Field is #19 as far as seating capacity goes. Rate capacity was lowered as well when they took off the top few rows. The seat i sat in for the first game there no longer exists. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77 Hitmen Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 4 hours ago, WBWSF said: Do you really think that JR at 89 years old is going to put money towards a new stadium? If anything the new owner is going to have to come up with the money. I wish that some sort of announcement would come about the stadium situation. Even if it means they're extending the lease at the present stadium. Agreed. At this point it'll all be about whether the new owners want to pay up for a new stadium. With a framework for a sale to the Ishbias in place, the current park's lease being up at the same time that Jerry's option to sell kicks in, and his expressed desire to have a new ballpark, I would imagine franchise sale price is intertwined with the whole ballpark situation going forward. I don't expect to hear about the stadium situation anytime soon....though the Fire announcement might spur the Sox into action if the Ishbias indeed want a new ballpark (I have no idea if they do or not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WBWSF Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 (edited) 32 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said: Agreed. At this point it'll all be about whether the new owners want to pay up for a new stadium. With a framework for a sale to the Ishbias in place, the current park's lease being up at the same time that Jerry's option to sell kicks in, and his expressed desire to have a new ballpark, I would imagine franchise sale price is intertwined with the whole ballpark situation going forward. I don't expect to hear about the stadium situation anytime soon....though the Fire announcement might spur the Sox into action if the Ishbias indeed want a new ballpark (I have no idea if they do or not). I'm under the impression the TIF funds are going to be used for the infrastructure at the 78. I can't believe the City of Chicago is too thrilled about spending millions of dollars on 20 soccer games a year. Putting a BB stadium with the soccer stadium at the 78 site makes more sense. I would think the White Sox ownership (either present or future) has some game plan in regards to a new stadium. I just wish they would tell us what the plan is. Even if the plan is to extend the lease at the present stadium. So be it, let us know. Edited June 24 by WBWSF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77 Hitmen Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 12 hours ago, WBWSF said: I'm under the impression the TIF funds are going to be used for the infrastructure at the 78. I can't believe the City of Chicago is too thrilled about spending millions of dollars on 20 soccer games a year. Putting a BB stadium with the soccer stadium at the 78 site makes more sense. I would think the White Sox ownership (either present or future) has some game plan in regards to a new stadium. I just wish they would tell us what the plan is. Even if the plan is to extend the lease at the present stadium. So be it, let us know. If the Ishbias intend to build a privately financed ballpark at the 78 for the team they are buying, I suppose we'll find out about it soon enough. And yes, I'd imagine the city and Related Midwest would be thrilled to have 2 privately financed stadiums built on that site. If their plan for owning the Sox is to get a new long-term lease at the current stadium, I don't expect to hear any discussion about that anytime soon since there are still 4 years to go before the current lease ends - and 4 years until Jerry's option to sell kicks in. They're not going to negotiate a new lease now in the press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77 Hitmen Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 (edited) Paul Sullivan has an article in the Trib today says he believes if Ishbia is going to build a new stadium at the 78, it's "imperative" that he comes up with plans for a retractable roof stadium. He says the intense heat/humidity we've had in recent days is a good argument for a retractable roof stadium. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/25/chicago-white-sox-stadium-retractable-roof/ Thoughts on this? One obvious downside would be that it costs a lot more to build such a stadium vs an open air ballpark (which is already very expensive at over $1B). But what about aesthetics? One big selling point of a ballpark at the 78 is a stunning skyline view it would offer. Wouldn't that be negated/blocked by the structure needed for a retractable roof stadium? IMO, comparing most retractable roof stadiums to an open air stadium is like comparing a car w/ a sunroof to a convertible. The parks in Arizona and Milwaukee lack a certain charm due to the roof structure IMO. That being said, I would probably change my tune if I had to sit there in frigid early season games, a rain out, or when the heat index is 110. Edited June 25 by 77 Hitmen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.