Let’s hope. I like The Bears but seeing a “public facility” with Bears shit plastered everywhere is disappointing and living in that as a Fire team is bad too.
I don't like the Bears, but seeing their shit plastered everywhere does not really bother me. When I was Seattle last summer to see the Fire game there, they had more Sounders stuff than anything else. The Fire need marketing and a marketing budget to see they their shit is plastered everywhere.
Hopefully they cover up all the Bears logo/colors along the walls and if they tarp off the stadium it's in FIRE colors/logo.
The surrounding area was impressive. Can't comment on the inside. I will put a bit of trust in Joe Manseuto to pull this off well.
For weeknight games, being able to hop on a Divvy bike and get there within 10-15 minutes from my office in the Loop and have roughly the same commute home as I normally would will be huge. Can’t remember the last time I even considered a weeknight game in Bridgeview a viable option. Even when I worked in Northbrook and drove regularly, getting there sucked and getting home from there sucked harder. Soldier Field isn’t perfect, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t draw more on weeknights given that more people work in the Loop than live in Bridgeview, and probably a few of the surrounding suburbs, too.
I was only speaking of the inside experience. It wasn’t good for soccer. As for Mansueto, I was out here pretty early championing the changes we see unfolding.
TBH, I feel like the soccer experience kind of got worse inside of Soldier Field after the (idiotic) renovations (that both ruined an iconic piece of architecture AND reduced its capacity). It definitely seemed like it was way more hyperfocused on being the Bears stadium after they dropped the hybrid cruise/space ship on top of the existing stadium, and I doubt the Fire returning will change that in any significant way, given the assumed temporary nature of their return. A small price to pay, imho, but I definitely can see how that will have a negative impact for diehards on gameday, and it could also make the club seem like an afterthought to the casuals as well.
The capacity and design that prevents them from ever installing a roof aside, I think I'm the only person in this city who actually likes the architecture of New Soldier Field. If nothing else, it helps the atmosphere at smaller capacity events better than the giant bowl of the old stadium did.
Usually when someone is like 'I'm probably the only person that _____' I chuckle a little and think, 'you're not that special, there's minimum at least one other person that _____'. I didn't do that with your comment here though. I ... think you might be right...
Yes, yes that is probably true. Even architects do not like it, since it was delisted as a National Historic Landmark, and that process began within a year of completion. This.
They couldn't take down the columns so they were limited in what they could do. It functions ok as a stadium. Most fans will be farther away from the action on the field but we will have to live with it until they build a soccer specific stadium in Chicago, if ever. It will take me about the same time to get there as it does to Bridgeview.
This is one of those things that no one actually cared about until it was taken away and people needed something to bitch about. Hell, I lived for four years in the East Ukrainian Village section of town, and I doubt more than a handful of my neighbors were even aware that the neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Horseshit. It was announced that it would happen before construction even started and plenty of people were unhappy about it it should have been reason enough to derail the project.
The conspiracy theory was that it was done deliberately SO that it would be delisted. After that, Daley could have the entire thing torn down and he could have the 70,000 seat dome he wanted but could not build, but the Recession happened and we did not "win" the Olympic bid.
Still it's hard to imagine a scenario where the Bears keep playing at SF today without renovations that don't significantly alter the character of the stadium, even if the external facade is kept intact. Even the old concrete bowl that is Lambeau looks strikingly different than it did two decades ago due to the massive wall of suites that were installed.
Of course, the stadium had to be improved. There is no question about it and that really is not relevant to the conversation at all.
I'm trying to remember the last time I saw SF actually tarped off for anything. It's been a long time, and stuff like Rugby and smaller football events that drawa a mostly lower bowl crowd usually just have uncovered seats at SF, so I'm guessing if we get tarps, the Fire would be the ones paying for them. The good news is that the stadium crews usually do a pretty good job of covering up Bears stuff for one off events (guessing sponsors would get pissed off if they didn't).
I actually like the stadium once I'm inside and am not looking at the outside. I love the terraces? behind the goals/endzones. I had a great experience at copa. I'm not sure how it will be with a smaller crowd though.
This is all so true. Not only is their definition of success different, but they don't care about the older fan. The Editorial made it quite clear that we were all welcome to not let the door hit us on the ass on our way out. I tried coming to a few games after that, but rational or not, that whole episode killed off this club for me. They could play games in my garage, and the convenience wouldn't be an issue for me. The "club" has 99 problems, and the location is just 1. At the barest minimum, there will be no success until the ownership magically flips to 51-49 the other way, and control of the club is taken from Hauptman. To be honest, I won't feel right or welcome until his ownership stake is zero. I always said that when that happens, the club, in what ever form it is in, would be very much like an expansion team for me. Kick the tires. See if it feels like something I can emotionally invest myself in. Earn my support. Real support. It's actually kind of enjoyable being an extremely casual follower with no emotional attachment. I can pull for the players. If the weather is really nice and I get a free or really cheap ticket, enjoy a night out at a game. No shuffling schedules to make sure I can watch road games on tv. Etc. I learned to do this in 1996 when I was living in the Bay Area. I knew that Chicago would be getting a team in the first expansion, so I purposely waded into the SJ Clash as nothing more than a casual fan. I wanted to be able to open up to the possibility of full on support of the Chicago Rythym (or whatever they might be). Boy was that a good decision as those first ten years supporting the Fire were awesome. So, in sum. New ownership. Major economic investment. First in basic branding and consumer awareness. At the same time, in player and coaching staff upgrades. Accessible TV that is also promoted. Tons of cash into community outreach/awareness. Back to the original Fire model, but with far more resources. With the overall success of the league, and a great soccer market in Chicago that would take to a real team in a heartbeat, this can work. But they need to address ALL of their problems, starting at the top, at the same time. Piecemeal bandaids (like moving to NSF first with precious little change) will never allow the splash that they need to be in that upper echelon of support in this league.