The Chicago Stars will remain at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium for their upcoming 2027 season, the professional women’s soccer team announced in a news release Aug. 25.
A spokesperson for the club told Pioneer Press the “goal is to get into Ryan Field eventually,” but the team is “not planning to restart that process until the stadium is open.”
Ryan Field, the $875 million Big Ten football stadium, is wrapping up the final phases of construction in the months ahead of its Oct. 2 nationally-televised debut football game featuring the Northwestern Wildcats against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
In March, the Stars walked back their earlier proposal to play 15 to 17 games at Ryan Field following dissent from neighboring Evanston and Wilmette residents who rebuked the plan, citing fears about increased noise and traffic congestion in the neighborhood.
“We’re grateful to Northwestern University for their continued partnership and support as we build on our club’s momentum at our newfound home on the lakefront,” Chicago Stars FC President Karen Leetzow wrote in a statement announcing the upcoming season.
The team will host all 15 of their home matches at the Evanston lakefront venue, despite previously declining to confirm whether or not they would submit an updated bid to play at Ryan Field.
“We are excited to welcome the Chicago Stars back to Martin Stadium for the 2027 season and proud to support the continued growth of women’s sports in Chicago and across the region,” said Jon Yates, Northwestern’s vice president of global marketing and communications.
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Yates clarified in a statement that Martin Stadium was developed “as a temporary venue” for the Stars and the university will “continue to evaluate its future use as circumstances and opportunities evolve.”
Martin Stadium was expanded to 12,000 seats ahead of the 2024 season to account for larger crowd sizes during Northwestern football games. The football team has played their last two seasons at the venue as they await Ryan Field’s completion.
While a new performance center in Bannockburn is currently underway for the Chicago Stars, the arena will function “solely as a training facility” and not where the team would host “large-scale events or matches,” per previous reports.
A Stars spokesperson wrote in a statement to Pioneer Press that a burglary at the site occurring prior to the team’s acquisition of the land has delayed the training facility’s construction and intended completion date.
The burglary led to a “significant renegotiation with the seller on the purchase price,” they wrote, which pushed back the date of closing on the property.
The original finish date was slated for sometime in early 2027, per previous reports.
With nine remaining games left in the 2026 season, the Stars are looking to climb out of their last place ranking in the league, where they currently sit with 16 points.
A difficult run for the club closely preceded the team’s dismissal of head coach Martin Sjögren and assistant coach Anders Jacobson earlier this month. Sjögren had been with the team for less than a season.
Assistant coach Karina Báez was promoted to interim head coach and will remain in that position until the 2026 season’s end in November, the team announced Aug.12.
“We are determined to make our club a serious contender in the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) and have a plan in place to do so beginning now and leading into the 2027 season,” Stars President Leetzow wrote in a news release.
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