Chicago NISA Club names SeatGeek Stadium home

Pro Men’s Outdoor Soccer Returns to Bridgeview’s 20,000 Seat Soccer Stadium

The new Chicago NISA professional soccer team announced it will play its home games at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois beginning late this summer when the National Independent Soccer Association’s 2021-22 season begins. Chicago NISA President/CEO Peter Wilt and Village of Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a multi-year agreement.

“This is welcome news for soccer fans throughout Chicagoland who want to watch their team play in an intimate venue built to showcase their favorite sport, and it is welcome news for the residents of the Village of Bridgeview,” Mayor Landek said.

“SeatGeek Stadium is a great platform for high level professional soccer and I’m thrilled the Chicago NISA club will play here.”

SeatGeek Stadium opened in 2006 as the home of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire and added the Chicago Red Stars (NWSL) in 2009. The Fire departed after the 2019 season and the Red Stars continue to play home games at SeatGeek Stadium.

Chicago NISA professional soccer team promotional photo. Courtesy of Chicago NISA Soccer

“I’m excited to return to Bridgeview,” said Wilt, who also launched the Fire and Red Stars. “SeatGeek Stadium has terrific fan amenities, sightlines built for soccer, and offers affordable parking conducive to tailgating for fans. We considered several venues, polled soccer fans online, and were convinced SeatGeek Stadium is the best venue for a pro soccer team in Chicagoland,” Wilt continued.

“The location is better for some than others. It is easily accessible by car from the Tri-State (I-294) and Stevenson (I-55) Expressways. SeatGeek Stadium is also accessible by public transportation via the Orange Line “L” stop, CTA bus lines and various team sponsored shuttles,” Wilt said.

The club plays in NISA, a third division professional soccer league with plans to add a second and even a first division to its open system pyramid in the future. “SeatGeek Stadium is a venue we can grow into,” Wilt said. “We don’t expect to fill the 20,000 seats every game initially, but we don’t expect to remain a third division club for long either. NISA offers us the hope, and indeed expectation, to climb the American professional soccer ladder via the meritocracy offered by promotion and relegation.”

Chicago NISA’s upcoming announcements include its head coach and its identity, both expected to be revealed next month. The club is in the final stages of its fan generated identity process billed as Moniker Madness. More than 400 names were submitted last October and 68 of those have been narrowed to two finalists via fan polls and guidance from the club’s Fan Advisory Committee.

Point Chicago and Chicago House are being voted on now through next Sunday at the team’s website www.chicagonisa.com. Point Chicago honors founder of Chicago Jean Baptiste Point du Sable and Wolf Point, the junction of the branches of the Chicago River. Chicago House pays tribute to the city’s music, arts and cultural image throughout the world. It recognizes being a home for everyone who loves and identifies with the city and its future.

ABOUT CHICAGO NISA

Founded in 2020, Chicago NISA is a community-based professional soccer team which will begin play next fall in NISA, a U.S. Soccer sanctioned third division league. Led by Managing Partner, President and CEO Peter Wilt, Chicago NISA is a public benefit corporation committed to transparency and working with its constituents to use its platform for social justice, diversity, equality and inclusion. Its primary team owner is Bruce Merivale-Austin, a British citizen and Managing Partner and Principal of DM Partners Asia, a UK multi-generational Single-Family Office based in Singapore since 2005.

For more information, contact us at [email protected], visit www.chicagonisa.com and follow on twitter at @ChicagoNISA. Of Chicago, By Chicago, For Chicago.

ABOUT SEATGEEK STADIUM

SEATGEEK STADIUM is the heart of soccer for much of the Midwest and a must-see destination for world-class concerts and other sporting events. Each year more than a half million people go by the stadium’s trademark brick arch, many achieving or reliving what has become a rite of passage for sports and music fans alike. Since opening its doors in 2006, SEATGEEK STADIUM has treated fans to sporting events of all calibers from around the world and is the proud home of the Chicago NISA soccer club and the Chicago Red Stars (NWSL). SEATGEEK STADIUM’S expansive parking lots are also the site of many festivals, carnivals, multi-stage concerts and other special events. The stadium can seat 20,000 for sporting events and 28,000 for concerts, featuring 34 executive suites plus six stage suites (available for sporting events). SEATGEEK STADIUM is located at 7000 S. Harlem Ave in Bridgeview, Illinois.

ABOUT NISA

The National Independent Soccer Association was founded in 2017 with a mission to bring professional soccer to every city in the United States. A pro league member of U.S. Soccer, NISA focuses on a model based on meritocracy, independent clubs controlling their own league, clubs owning their intellectual property, all without the barrier of territorial rights. Sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation, NISA also runs the mid-summer pro-am Independent Cup tournament, the year-long amateur league NISA Nation, and NISA Media. For more information about NISA visit NISAOfficial.com or contact at [email protected]. Follow NISA on Twitter @NISALeague and on Instagram @nisasoccer.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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