The Chicago Stars are extending their stay at Northwestern University’s 12,000-seat lakeside college football stadium.
The NWSL team played its first match at Martin Stadium last September, drawing over 10,000 fans, before officially moving in this season. The team is last in the NWSL with a 5–15–1 record.
The Stars are set to announce their plans to stay by the lake and open up season ticket deposits for next year later Tuesday. The announcement also means Northwestern will not yet tear down the revamped Martin Stadium, which it upgraded in 2024. The school had long described the stadium as a temporary solution during construction on its new $875 million football stadium roughly one mile away.
The Stars originally wanted to follow the football team into the new Ryan Field, which will hold 35,000 people, but scrapped those plans this spring after resistance from local residents wary of private events at the stadium. Northwestern football is scheduled to play its first game in the new venue against Penn State on Oct. 2.
Since 2016, the Stars had played at SeatGeek Stadium in the southwestern suburb of Bridgeview, Ill., which is difficult to reach by public transit. The move to Evanston was initially celebrated by fans for being more accessible, but as the team struggled on the pitch this season, attendance has stayed low. The Stars are so far averaging 4,316 fans per match at home this year, according to the team, among the worst in the league. A Wednesday night match in late March drew fewer than 2,000 people. Season ticket sales, however, are up 31% from last year, the team says.
