Chicago Fire Owner Dips Into Personal Fortune For $650M Soccer Stadium At The 78

Billionaire Chicago Fire owner Joe Mansueto will spend $650M of his personal fortune to build a new stadium for his Major League Soccer team at the site of The 78 megadevelopment. 

The 22,000-seat stadium will serve as a long-awaited anchor for Related Midwest's megadevelopment and be privately financed by Mansueto, the founder of the financial data firm Morningstar. Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2025, with the new stadium set to open in spring 2028.

“This project is more than just a stadium,” Mansueto said in a letter to fans. “It’s a space for fans of all ages, backgrounds and neighborhoods to come together and celebrate the beautiful game — right in the heart of our city.”

Mansueto bought the team in 2019 in a deal valued at about $400M. He then spent $65M to move the team to Soldier Field from Bridgeview, but the club maintains that venue has limitations necessitating a move, including having to work around the Chicago Bears' schedule.  

The decision means Related Midwest has finally found an anchor tenant for the massive parcel stretching south from Roosevelt Road to 16th Street following a prolonged struggle to get the site off the ground. 

The University of Illinois System’s Discovery Partners Institute ditched its plan for a $285M research and teaching facility that was set to anchor the site in October. The institute would have taken up 4 acres at the southern part of the site.

The White Sox and owner Jerry Reinsdorf also previously made an aggressive push to move the team to The 78 and build a new stadium at the development. That plan stalled out after state lawmakers rejected his ask for $1B in public financing.  

Now, the Fire will fill the void.

“Soccer is the world’s game and a world-class city like ours deserves a world-class Club — with a world-class home to match,” Mansueto said in a release.