Chicago Fire will have 100% capacity at Soldier Field in July — and announce their Sept. 29 game will be played elsewhere because of a conflict with the Bears

Jeremy Mikula, Chicago Tribune
·2 min read
Chicago Fire will have 100% capacity at Soldier Field in July — and announce their Sept. 29 game will be played elsewhere because of a conflict with the Bears

The Chicago Fire will play without capacity restrictions at Soldier Field for the first time since returning to the lakefront, starting with their July 3 match against Atlanta United.

The Fire made the announcement Monday, saying the 100 and 200 levels of the stadium — about 28,500 fans — will be fully open.

Fans will be able to tailgate starting with a June 23 match versus FC Cincinnati, the team said.

“This is the moment our fans, city, players and staff have been waiting for,” Fire COO John Urban said in a statement. “We know the stadium will be buzzing with energy and passion, providing our players a special home-field advantage.”

That 28,500 figure is what the Fire anticipated being their normal operating capacity when they announced in 2019 their return to their first home stadium, with the option to open to the full capacity of 61,500 for select matches.

One such match was the Fire’s originally scheduled 2020 home opener, coincidentally against Atlanta, which the club anticipated to be a sellout. COVID-19 altered plans, however, and the Fire played all of their home matches last season in an empty Soldier Field. They slowly have welcomed back fans since the 2021 opener on April 17.

However, pandemic or not, the Fire’s return to Soldier Field was going to come with its share of bumps once the Bears season rolled around.

That also popped up Monday with the Fire announcing their Sept. 29 match against New York City FC will be played at an alternate site because of a scheduling conflict with the Bears, who host the Detroit Lions on Oct. 3.

The Bears have a five-day window before their games preventing the use of Soldier Field for any major events. The Fire’s Sept. 29 game falls in that window.

The Fire have not said where the game will be played, but a logical pick would be a one-match return to the soccer-specific SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.

The stadium, which was built for the Fire and opened in 2006, was the team’s home through the 2019 season before it agreed to pay the southwest suburban village $65.5 million to amend its lease.

The Chicago Red Stars, who play at SeatGeek, have home matches Sept. 25 and Oct. 2.