Pitching The Pitch: NWSL Chicago Red Stars Plan To Swing Into Wrigley Field
Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 08:53PM By Barry Janoff
UPDATED June 8, 2024: The NWSL set a one-game attendance mark when the Chicago Red Stars played Bay FC in the “Red Stars Take Over Wrigley Field” match June 8 when 35,038 people were in the home field of MLB’s Cubs.
That attendance mark bested the previous NWSL single-match attendance record, held by Seattle Reign FC, 35,038.
April 9, 2024: Wrigley Field has been home to such Chicago Cubs pitchers as Ferguson Jenkins, Rick Sutcliffe, Greg Maddux and Kerry Wood.
In June, it will be home to another type of pitch.
In a concerted effort to expand and immerse its followers, the NWSL Chicago Red Stars said they would host Bay FC in Wrigley Field June 8, the first NWSL match to be played in the home of the MLB Cubs.
The club said that “having the nation’s best soccer players playing under the lights of the Friendly Confines will draw sports fans from across the Chicagoland area.”
The move is organic as.Laura Ricketts, whose family owns the Cubs, became majority owner of the Red Stars in August.
The Red Stars have played home games in SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Ill., about 15 miles southwest of Chicago. They averaged 4,848 in 2023, the lowest in the NWSL, according to the league.
Wrigley Field, opened in 1914, seats about 41,600.
“Playing at Wrigley Field will be the event that fans of the Red Stars, Cubs and Chicago sports won’t want to miss,” Karen Leetzow, Red Stars president, said via the club, which is touting the match with the tagline, “Witness History.”
“On behalf of the Red Stars, I’d like to thank the Cubs for inviting us to Wrigley Field and giving these elite athletes the stage they deserve.”
The Red Stars and Cubs said hosting the match in Wrigley Field is an effort to make “women’s professional soccer more accessible to sports fans in Chicago.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome the Chicago Red Stars to Wrigley Field,” Crane Kenney, Cubs president of business operations, said via the team, which will be on a road trip from June 6-13.
“This is a historic first for both organizations. We’re proud to join forces with the Red Stars to bring this event to life for the players, fans and our city.”
Leading up to the match, the Red Stars said they would “create a high-energy atmosphere that engages local businesses, community groups and corporate sponsors to help rally Chicagoans together around women’s soccer.”
The Red Stars versus Bay FC match will air live on ION.
According to Leetzow, “We look forward to representing our great city and showing Chicago fans and the country how talented this club is and the intense level of competition that exists on the pitch every week in the NWSL and in Chicago’s backyard.”
Ticket information can be found here.
Back to Home Page