The Chicago Red Stars are scrambling to find a solution for a September 21st home game after it was revealed that a music festival would be taking over the team's usual stadium.
Riot Fest announced on Wednesday that SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois will host the three-day concert event from September 20th through the 22nd. The Red Stars — who were scheduled to play the San Diego Wave on September 21st — have played at SeatGeek since 2016, and recently set an all-time NWSL attendance record during a one-off game at Wrigley Field.
As for solutions, those hoping for a return to Wrigley could be out of luck: The Chicago Cubs are set to play the Washington Nationals at home on September 21st.
"It is unfair and unfortunate to have our club put in this situation, shining a light on the vast discrepancies in the treatment of women's professional sports versus men's sports," Red Stars president Karen Leetzow said in tweeted response to the double-booking.
"We are committed to ensuring our players and fans have a first-rate experience on and off pitch, and we are working diligently to find a solution that will ensure our September 21st game is a success."
Since purchasing the Red Stars last year, majority owner Laura Ricketts — a co-owner of the Cubs — has been vocal about finding a more appropriate long-term home for the team.
"We knew right from the beginning — like, rewind back almost a year and a half ago when we started considering acquiring the Red Stars — we knew that the current [stadium] situation was not the ultimate long-term solution," Ricketts told ESPN in February. "And really, the key to unlocking the door for this organization would be to solve that."
More broadly, Ricketts has been pushing for increased public funding for sports stadiums around Chicago, with both the NFL’s Bears and MLB’s White Sox looking to build new facilities.
The situation in Bridgeview is the most recent scheduling mishap for the NWSL. Angel City had to reschedule their 2024 season opener weeks before it was to be played due to an "unforeseen scheduling conflict." Additionally, San Diego's new MLS team will reportedly have priority over NWSL side San Diego Wave FC when it comes to scheduling home games at the shared Snapdragon Stadium.
"It frustrates me again that we’re the established team in the market and a men’s team comes in and gets first picks on the schedule," Wave coach Casey Stoney said last October. "Shame that it continues to happen."
Watch more: "Chicago Forced to Move Match Due to Music Festival" on TikTok
The NWSL made a big return from the international break, setting a new attendance record.
The Chicago Red Stars welcomed 35,038 fans to Saturday's one-off game at iconic Wrigley Field. It beat the previous high of 34,130 set by Seattle during Megan Rapinoe's final home game in 2023.
It was just the second time the Red Stars played inside city limits, with the team normally based at Seat Geek Stadium in Bridgeview, a Chicago suburb. But with new ownership, the team is looking at possibly moving closer to the city — and Saturday’s game proved the appetite is there.
"We'll get the support that we need if we have a stadium in the city, and this is just the beginning," said Red Stars forward Penelope Hocking after the game.
Chicago’s attendance boosted the weekend’s overall numbers, as it was also the first time in NWSL history that league-wide attendance exceeded 100,000 in a single weekend.
But on the field, Chicago lost 2-1 to Bay FC, putting them in sixth place. Kansas City, Orlando, Washington, Portland, and Gotham all saw positive results this weekend, establishing a five-point divide between them and the rest of the pack.
Both the Current and Pride remain unbeaten, although Orlando’s winning streak has come to an end following a 1-1 draw with San Diego.
Ahead of the coming weekend’s matchups, Portland will be hoping that an appeal on Sophia Smith’s second yellow card is successful, otherwise they will be without the Golden Boot leader against Seattle.
The NWSL is back in action this weekend following the June international break, as stars look to showcase Olympic form while clubs aim to build momentum going into the latter half of the season.
All but four clubs have played 11 games, with Orlando, Kansas City, and Washington beginning to separate themselves from the pack at the top of the NWSL table. But it’s close quarters across places four through eight, with just seven points separating the teams as the league prepares for the most-expanded postseason in NWSL history.
Orlando and Kansas City are riding unbeaten streaks, with the Pride on a historic eight-game winning streak. Forward Barbra Banda is the leader of the charge, with eight goals through just seven NWSL games played. She’s tied with Portland’s Sophia Smith in the Golden Boot race.
With more than half the season to play, both Banda and Smith could be at a pace to contend for Sam Kerr's single-season NWSL scoring record of 18 goals.
While the top three NWSL teams will go up against the bottom three this weekend, all eyes will be on Chicago where the Red Stars will play Bay FC in their first-ever match at historic Wrigley Field.
The Red Stars are aiming to break the NWSL single-game attendance record, as they take the field inside the Chicago city limits for the first time since 2022. As of May 23rd, Chicago had sold 22,000 tickets, chipping away at Seattle's record of 34,130 when in 2023.
Alyssa Naeher exited the Chicago Red Stars game early on Sunday with an apparent injury.
After making a recovery run in the second half of Chicago's 3-1 win over the Utah Royals, the 36-year-old walked off the pitch limping but unassisted in the 62nd minute. She was replaced by backup keeper Mackenzie Wood.
Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson didn’t offer an update on the star goalkeeper's status in his postgame interview.
"No [update], I'm leaving it to the pros — the medical staff — so I don't know what's going on yet," he said.
While the injury is bad news for Chicago, who currently sit fifth in the NWSL table, it’s also potentially troubling for the UWSNT's Olympic prospects. Naeher, a two-time Women's World Cup champion with the US, has served as the team's default starting goalkeeper for the last several years.
Naeher is virtually a lock for the 2024 Olympics, should her injury not be too serious. But depending on its gravity, the knock could keep her out of a series of upcoming friendlies kicking off June 1st and 4th, Emma Hayes’ first as head coach for the USWNT.
Also leaving her game with an injury on Sunday was Jaedyn Shaw, who limped off the pitch well into stoppage time in the Wave's 1-1 draw with Gotham FC. Shaw has recently emerged as one of the Wave's top strikers, making it all the more concerning if she ends up joining teammates Alex Morgan, Naomi Girma, and Abby Dahlkemper on the injured list. All four have played in recent camps for the USWNT.
San Diego head coach Casey Stoney did not provide an update following Sunday's game, but noted that she thought Shaw had landed on her ankle.
The 2024 Paris Olympics begins Friday, July 26th, with rostered players scheduled to appear in their final club matches in mid-July.
As the WNBA plans to implement league-wide charter flights, the NWSL is struggling with some travel issues of its own.
Missed flights, inclement weather, and a stretch of midweek games have spurred workload and logistical concerns for a number of NWSL teams. Last week, three games were played Wednesday night, while another three games are set to be played tonight.
"You can't play your best XI right now because of the amount of games you have," said Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson after last Wednesday's 4-2 loss to Washington. Donaldson emphasized the importance of rotating through the team’s depth so as to avoid injury.
"You have to get to about 16 deep where you can," he continued. "Or else your best XI is going to be injured or walk off the field and they can’t finish the season."
Kansas City has faced some of the league's most extreme turnaround times this season. On Sunday, the Current missed an evening flight to Seattle due to a multi-hour rain delay in Houston, throwing off their training schedule ahead of their midweek match against the Reign. The NWSL eventually gave them the green light to charter a plane, but not before frustration spread throughout the team.
"We lost the whole day of the opportunity to recover," said Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski after the Current's weekend draw against the Dash. "So the schedule, it's already challenging to begin with. We have by far the worst schedule in the league, and this just made it even worse.
"We don't have a hotel, we got to figure out a hotel. We don't have flights for tomorrow, we got to figure out flights. We had trainings for some players that we believe needed training time to be able to perform on Wednesday.”
While the team was given permission to charter a plane, navigating such approvals has proven difficult in the past. This past July, the NWSL fined Kansas City $55,000 over the unauthorized use of a charter flight.
USWNT regulars Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson furthered their cases for Olympic inclusion with their respective club victories on Saturday and Sunday.
After a roller coaster of a week that saw former Thorns head coach Mike Norris reassigned and a flurry of last-minute roster reshufflings as Friday's trade window closure loomed, the NWSL sprung to life over the weekend with standout performances from ninth-place Portland and third-place Chicago, among others.
After her blocked attempt at goal set up a volleying sixth-minute opener from veteran Christine Sinclair — now the only player in history to record a goal in all 11 NWSL seasons — Smith swiftly netted her own in the 27th minute off a breakaway run that eluded Houston's backline. The goal represented Smith's third of the season as well as her 35th for the Thorns, ultimately leading to the home side's first win of the season in a 4-1 routing of the Dash.
But that wasn't Smith's only stat of the evening. The star forward also lapped former Chicago Red Star Sam Kerr to become the youngest player to reach 50 NWSL goal contributions across all games, chalking up 40 goals and 10 assists at the age of 23 years and 254 days.
"Obviously it feels good to get a win," said Smith in a post-match press conference. "But this is the standard the Thorns have always had. So a win is great, but a win is the expectation — we're hungrier than ever after the way we started."
170 miles up the road, Lumen Field similarly showcased some promising Olympic prospect footwork on Sunday. In Chicago's 2-1 victory over the lagging 13th-place Seattle Reign, striker Mallory Swanson racked up an impressive counterattack assist on fellow forward Ally Schlegel's fourth-minute goal. Swanson went on to find the back of the net herself before halftime, lacing an explosive ball into the top corner in the 31st minute, her second of the season after returning from a lengthy sidelining injury.
Speaking of injuries, fellow USWNT favorites Alex Morgan and Tierna Davidson were not as fortunate as their national squad teammates this weekend. Each exited their club matches early, Morgan with an ankle knock in San Diego's loss to Orlando and Davidson with an apparent hamstring incident early on in Washington's win over Gotham.
For the first time in the NWSL's 12-year history, fans can now buy their own goalkeeper jerseys. And while replica goalkeeper jerseys representing all 14 NWSL teams hit the market on Wednesday, some didn't stick around for long.
Fans across women's soccer have long vocalized their discontent over the position's lack of availability on social media, often comparing the shortcoming to the widespread availability of men’s goalkeeper jerseys. And as the NWSL has grown, so has demand — and not just from those in the stands.
"To have goalkeeper kits available for fans in the women’s game as they have been for so long in the men’s game is not only a long-awaited move in the right direction, it’s just good business," said Washington Spirit goalie Aubrey Kingsbury in an team press release. "I can’t wait to see fans representing me, Barnie [Barnhart], and Lyza in the stands at Audi!"
just went looking at #nwsl goalkeeper kit stock out of curiosity — Alyssa Naeher's $145 kit already sold out S-XL (league announced GK jerseys on sale 3 hours ago)https://t.co/8bYA7tlwcx
— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) April 17, 2024
Business does, in fact, appear to be booming. Alyssa Naeher’s Chicago Red Stars kit sold out less than three hours after the league's announcement. Jerseys for other keepers like DiDi Haračić, Abby Smith, Michelle Betos, Katelyn Rowland, and Bella Bixby aren’t currently available via the Official NWSL Shop, though blank goalkeeper jerseys can be customized through some individual team sites. Jerseys start at $110 each.
"This should be the benchmark," said Spirit Chief Operations Officer Theresa McDonnell. "The expectation is that all players’ jerseys are available to fans. Keepers are inspiring leaders and mentors with their own unique fan base who want to represent them... I can’t wait to see them all over the city."
Mallory Swanson has re-signed with the Chicago Red Stars on a record-breaking deal.
The free agent will remain in Chicago on a five-year contract, which is the longest in league history. And while the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, it’s also reportedly the largest in NWSL history.
“I am excited to be back with the Red Stars! These last few years have been such a blessing in Chicago, even with the ups and downs, and I can’t wait to be back,” said Swanson in a release. “I am looking forward to getting to work and helping the team win championships. See everyone soon!”
It’s the latest in what has been a number of record-breaking signings for some of the league’s best players. Previously, Maria Sánchez had signed the largest contract in league history in December, signing a three-year contract worth nearly $1.5 million with the Houston Dash. In 2022, Trinity Rodman signed a four-year deal worth $1.4 million with the Washington Spirit.
“The Red Stars could not be more excited that Mallory Swanson has decided to extend her career with us here in Chicago,” said Chicago Red Stars president, Karen Leetzow. “Mallory exemplifies the grit, focus and resiliency of our franchise and is an anchor for this team. Mal is a born leader on and off the field and I look forward to working with her to make the Red Stars a championship team.”
There had been reports that Swanson had intended to re-sign with the Red Stars, despite receiving significant offers from other clubs. Swanson has been the Red Stars’ primary offensive asset since she signed with the club in 2021. She began 2022 as such, scoring two goals for the Red Stars early in the NWSL season before tearing her patellar tendon in April 2023.
Swanson has been back training without any brace or support on her injured knee, indicating that she may be healed and ready to play by the beginning of the NWSL season in March.
She’ll do so with a new head coach, as the team’s new ownership group opted to hire former Jamaica national team manager Lorne Donaldson. He also was president of elite youth club Real Colorado, where he helped develop Swanson and fellow USWNT star forward Sophia Smith.
World Cup champion defender Tierna Davidson knows exactly what she’s going to miss about the city of Chicago. The 25-year-old is moving on from the Red Stars side that drafted her in 2019, as she joins reigning champions Gotham FC in a multi-year deal through 2026.
“Just in my head, like the perfect August, September evening in Chicago,” Davidson tells Just Women’s Sports days before her free agency announcement. “Where it’s like 70 degrees and you can walk around, and there’s a little bit of a breeze but it’s not too cold and it’s not too overrun by tourists.”
“Everyone’s just kind of there hanging out, and the sun still goes down late, being able to walk down Randolph Avenue or something and pop in and out of restaurants or bars, hanging out with my friends,” she continues. “I feel like that’s what I will just miss the most.”
Davidson was only 20 years old when she left Stanford a year early and was drafted by a Red Stars team stacked at the time with impressive talent like USWNT stalwart Julie Ertz, Japanese World Cup champion Yuki Nagasato, and Australian superstar Sam Kerr.
Chicago would reach a title game in the three years following Davidson’s jump to the pros, falling in the 2019 and 2021 NWSL championship games as well as the 2020 Challenge Cup.
Behind the scenes however Chicago would be revealed to be the picture of off-field dysfunction, with both head coach Rory Dames and Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler named in reports of misconduct starting in 2021. Dames was permanently banned from the NWSL in 2022, while Whisler agreed to sell the club, which eventually found new ownership in a group led by Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts.
As the Red Stars begin righting the ship under new management they’ve suffered a fair amount of roster attrition. The team’s struggles in 2023 following Davidson’s return from an ACL tear in part led to the defender missing a World Cup roster, a crucial setback for a versatile player that appeared to be on the fast-track at the international level.
Chicago finished the season last in the NWSL standings right before Davidson became an unrestricted free agent. Leaving teammates who had shaped the first five years of her career made moving on difficult, but Davidson also desired the opportunity to grow in a new environment.
“I think I’ve really been craving structure and a sense of security almost,” she says. “I think that with everything that’s happened at Chicago over the past years, that’s something that we’ve struggled to have there just because there’s been a lot of turnover, there’s been a lot of turmoil.”
Thus entered Gotham, once also a club struggling to emerge from the basement of the NWSL standings now assembling a super-squad after the team’s first championship win. Gotham has already announced World Cup champion Crystal Dunn as a major free agency signing, as well as having been linked to reported talks with Emily Sonnett and Rose Lavelle.
The coaching staff’s early conversations with Davidson gave her the confidence that not only would she be a good fit for the team, but that they’re invested in her necessary personal growth. With the USWNT entering a new era under manager Emma Hayes, a consistent return to the international stage could be determined by finding the right coaching staff to help her take strides forward.
“My first impression was we had a Zoom meeting, and the staff comes in so prepared, they have video, they have stats and analysis of me personally,” she says. “And to see that level of commitment for someone that’s not their player is really impressive, to know that they are not just kind of closing their eyes and pointing out a free agent.”
Gotham proved versatile themselves in 2023, with a sense of full-team defending leading to quick switches in possession based on the foundation of a bend-not-break defense. A big part of the latter’s success lay at the feet of departing captain defender Ali Krieger, who retired at the end of last year.
Davidson appears to be a natural personality to step in at center-back in Krieger’s absence. She’s demonstrated both ability to defend in space and to trigger the attack through combination play and long passes she can drop on a dime. “I played the [No.] 6 for longer than I played center-back, I miss playing it,” she says with a chuckle. “So I really do enjoy the times when the center-back is able to get into the attack a little bit and set play a little bit and [be] able to connect a bit with the attack.”
She notes an excitement to play with the clear style that head coach Juan Carlos Amorós has instilled in Gotham, laughing that she won’t miss having to face the team’s multi-pronged attack. “Just to know how fluidly he wants to play the game with the ideas that he has is really exciting, because that continues to push us as players if we’re having to solve different problems or look at different pictures and find different solutions.”
Davidson also noticed how often USWNT teammates spoke of their time at Gotham with a real sense of ease and positivity, bringing the team up unsolicited in natural conversation. This allowed her to observe without feeling like she had to ask too many questions as she tried to get a sense of the free agency market.
“The privilege of being in the national team environment is you get a little window into people’s environment even without having to ask,” she says. “Which is almost the best kind of form of analysis, just because it’s not like they’re trying to sell you on a team.”
A strong locker room culture supported by the entire organization is something that might be exactly what Davidson needs, as her obvious on-the-field goals for 2024 — to win trophies at both the domestic and international level — will need to start with a new sense of foundation beneath her feet.
“I think first and foremost, [next year is] really regaining a sense of joy in the game, a sense of confidence in the game,” she says. “Just like stepping onto the field and just knowing that this is where I belong, and this is what I’m meant to do.”
“I think that the process goals are really important to me at this point,” she continues. “I think I haven’t been able to achieve those process goals in the past few years. And I really am looking forward to getting back to that and to seeing that come to fruition in the game.”
Off the field, Davidson aims to find the perfect balance between the calm of New Jersey and the bustling city of New York. She’s also looking forward to have a chance to simply focus on the football.
“Something that I’ve yet to experience but I think would be helpful for me is to be able to have a bit of peace off the field,” she says. “I think Gotham will provide that for me — I’m hoping that can help me in many different ways both as a player, but also as a person.”
NWSL free agent Mallory Swanson will re-sign with the Chicago Red Stars, The Athletic reported Friday.
A spokesperson for the Chicago-based club confirmed that, although an offer is not final, Swanson plans to stay with the Red Stars. Though she received significant offers from other clubs, including Racing Louisville, Swanson wishes to continue playing in Chicago, according to The Athletic.
Swanson has been the Red Stars’ primary offensive asset since her signing in 2021 and she began her most recent season as such. She scored seven goals in six appearances for the U.S. women’s national team and two early goals with Chicago, but Swanson ended up sidelined for the rest of the season after tearing her patellar tendon in April 2023.
On Oct. 15, Swanson posted pictures of herself training with the Red Stars with no brace or support on her injured knee — she may be healed and ready to play by the start of the next NWSL season in March.
The Chicago club is undergoing many changes in 2023 and leading into 2024, including a new head coach, Lorne Donaldson, and a new ownership group, led by Laura Ricketts, part-owner of the Chicago Cubs, the team for which Swanson’s husband plays.