Soccer in the City: Why the Chicago Stars Are Betting on Small Stadiums

Chicago Stars fans know the story—persistence, growth, countless pivots. Now, a new chapter begins.

After 12 seasons at Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium, 20 miles from downtown, the Stars are finally coming home. They’ll make the Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium home in 2026, but fans get an early preview on September 7 against Orlando Pride. The bigger question: why make the move now?

Call it strategy, experience, or simply common sense. But the reasons go deeper than mere numbers. The Chicago Stars have always faced one glaring problem: attendance. 

Even at their peak, average crowds barely topped 7,000 in a 20,000-seat SeatGeek Stadium. To put it in perspective, during the 2019 Premier Lacrosse League season, a marquee matchup between the Redwoods and Chaos drew 11,398 fans over two days at that same stadium, still less than 60% capacity. So the Stars are trading 20,000 empty chairs for an intimate 12,023-seat stage.

Why tolerate empty seats when you can stage a sell-out every night? That logic drives the move.

Martin Stadium isn’t just smaller; in fact, it’s smarter. It sits on the Lake Michigan shoreline with easy transit links, bike paths, and ample campus parking. Moreover, the design fosters intimacy: every cheer sharper, every goal closer, and every atmosphere louder. The stadium is only one piece of a broader rebuild. Club president Karen Leetzow frames it as a deliberate transformation built on:

• Hiring world-class coach Martin Sjogren

• Recruiting international talent

• Deepening ties across Chicago’s communities

“This is an interesting period in women’s soccer,” Leetzow says. “We’re on this rapid growth trajectory… 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.” For the Chicago Stars, it’s not downsizing. It’s right-sizing. But can a stadium alone fix attendance? Enter the economics of scarcity.

The economics of scarcity

Smaller isn’t less; it’s leverage, and the Stars aim to prove it. The Chicago Stars are proving it. For Sunday’s clash with Orlando Pride, more than 8,000 tickets are gone already. Before kickoff, a Fan Zone pulses with music, games, food, and drinks, turning soccer into a day-long festival. Season-ticket sales for 2026 are already open—$25 holds your seat, and a “Soccer by the Lake” tee sweetens the deal. But why does scarcity make such a difference?

On paper, moving to a smaller stadium looks like a retreat. In practice,  it’s a forward-thinking play that fuses economics with psychology: scarcity creates value. For the Chicago Stars, that means:

• High demand, limited supply.

•  A tighter venue pulls fans closer to the pitch.

• Premium seating fetches more when capacity is constrained.

This isn’t about downsizing, it’s about redesigning. But not all stadium strategies succeed so neatly, and the proof lies in comparing models across the league.

Two models, two realities

Consider Kansas City Current: their purpose-built CPKC Stadium… a jewel on the Berkley Riverfront, cost $117 million to construct, seats 11,500, and opened in March 2024. Immediately, it became a magnet. Every season ticket was gone, and the first seven games sold out. Furthermore, fans packed the stands, and the math added up quickly: an average ticket price of $75 – double the league norm- generated roughly $11.2 million in ticket revenue across just 13 regular soccer season games. Even the team’s owner, Chris Long, predicted that they would make about $40 million in total revenue in 2024, and they did.

Now look at San Diego Wave FC. They play at Snapdragon Stadium, a huge 35,000-seat venue built for $310 million and able to expand to 55,000 seats. In 2024, they drew over 215,000 fans, about 19,575 per game, and their opener against Kansas City had 32,066 soccer fans, an NWSL record. But for most games, many seats were empty, which made the atmosphere feel weak and spread out. This shows that bigger isn’t always better: smaller, full stadiums like Kansas City’s create more energy, higher demand, and better revenue, which also helps sponsors.

Turning every seat into Sponsor Value

Smaller stadiums don’t just change what fans feel on game day; they change what brands get out of it, too. At Martin Stadium, every seat is full, every cheer is louder, and that energy looks fantastic on TV. That’s great news for sponsors like Wintrust, CIBC, Ulta Beauty, and Nellaspec.com, who get maximum visibility in front of a passionate, engaged crowd. When fans are closer to the action, they’re also more likely to check out sponsor activations, pick up merchandise, and spend on food and drinks, making those partnerships more valuable. But how does this translate into a sustainable business model for women’s soccer?

For the Chicago Red Stars, it’s part of a bigger commercial play. Moreover, sponsors aren’t just buying a logo; they’re buying into an atmosphere. In addition, interactive promotions, memorable matchday experiences, and easier access all help fans connect more deeply. Consequently, that connection translates into real results: better ROI, stronger loyalty, and a sense of exclusivity that scarcity naturally creates. Ultimately, a right-sized, intimate venue isn’t just good for fans or players; it’s good business all around.

For once, the city’s third-biggest sports market has a women’s soccer home that feels real: louder, tighter, closer. The Chicago Stars will still train in Bridgeview, but their roots are shifting downtown.

For the league: are 10-15,000-seat venues the blueprint, or will demand outstrip supply? For now, the Chicago Stars are betting scarcity beats scale, and that every full seat is worth more than hundreds left empty.