Chicago maybe trying to hit the reset button.
First off, let’s make something clear. We have been aware of the tweets from former Fire outside counsel James Vlahakis since Wednesday. It was my decision not to report anything until we had something concrete or official.
But now with multiple sources reporting on the issue, it’s time to put our two cents in. The story goes that the Fire are in talks with the Village of Bridgeview to buy out the remainder of the lease with the Village to play at SeatGeek Stadium. The plan would be to move back to Soldier Field possibly as early as next season. The goal is to get the deal done before Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel leaves office on May 20th according to sources.
There has also been talk of possibly re-branding the Fire into something like Chicago City Football Club, but there is nothing concrete on that.
Minority owner Joe Mansueto—who bought a 49% stake in the club last season—is said to be spearheading the move and may get some assistance by other league owners as Vlahakis’s tweet suggests that majority owner Andrew Hauptman is “crying poor”.
In 2006, the Fire moved to Bridgeview and what was then called Toyota Park and was immediately awarded an MLS All-Star Game and hailed as a triumph of a team moving into a soccer-specific stadium.
However, development around the stadium has been frustratingly slow and success on the pitch has been rare under Hauptman where he has been the one constant in a revolving door of players and executives. Also working against the team and Village was that trends in MLS shifted to urban locales after the arrival of the Seattle Sounders FC, Toronto FC, and most recently Atlanta United FC and a soccer-specific stadium was not mandatory for some clubs (but has been for others). Neither the Fire and Bridgeview benefited from the arrangement with the former only a shadow of its former self and the latter seeing its debts skyrocket and bond rating junked.
Again, neither the lease buyout, nor the re-brand has been finalized, according to Guillermo Rivera of The Athletic and Fire Confidential.
THOUGHTS: While some people would welcome a return to city limits (especially people up North), a re-brand would not be welcomed. Most of the Fire’s hardcore supporter come from those who have supported the team well before Hauptman bought the club in 2007 and the hope that the day he no longer has anything to do with the club comes sooner rather than later.
Re-branding a club is not unprecedented in MLS. The New York/New Jersey MetroStars became the New York Red Bulls and….they have a stadium in New Jersey and are still without a U.S. Open Cup or an MLS Cup. The Kansas City Wizards became Sporting Kansas City and has been the best re-branding success story thus far, winning an MLS Cup in 2013 and three U.S. Open Cups.
However, to many soccer fans in the city, the Fire is an iconic identity and one that reflects the city’s rebirth after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Changing that would be akin to erasing the past 21 years of the club’s existence in exchange for attracting a younger fanbase.
I feel like a move back into the city would be better served if there was a plan to move into a new stadium within city limits. A return to Soldier Field will likely mean a return to the sight of at least 40,000 empty seats. Yes, it has been very hard to get a stadium deal done in the city (read: Lincoln Yards), but one would think chances would improve under Joe Mansueto.
We honestly do not know where everything will eventually head. However, there is little dispute that the main reason the Fire have not drawn in Bridgeview is that the team has been years of mismanagement under Andrew Hauptman and Bridgeview is to blame for not building around the stadium fast enough after making haste attracting the Fire 13 years ago.
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