Chinatown not Happy with Future Chicago Fire Stadium | Grandslam owes $3 Million to athletes

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Chinatown residents express concerns over proposed Chicago Fire stadium Stadium proposal season has been underway for quite some time. Other than the Bulls and Hawks (although they completed a somewhat minor upgrade to the upper suites back in May), each of Chicago’s major teams has expressed interest in building a new stadium. With that comes the necessary headaches to push through the proposal: lobbying politicians for public funds, releasing renderings to create excitement, and of course, dealing with potential backlash from local citizens. Chinatown sits a half-mile from where the stadium would be built, and residents are worried about potential rent increases and parking shortages. Residents believe that the influx of people to the area would make the situation much worse. On the other side, developer Related Midwest claims they have plenty of support for the project and look to move forward with it. Despite concerns from residents, it would take a significant turn of events to stop the stadium from pushing through. The Fire are the only Chicago team with a stadium proposal that doesn’t depend on vast amounts of public funds, which gives it a likely chance of approval. NBC Chicago reports on other concerns Chinatown residents have with the stadium proposal and when construction could begin.

2027 MLB All-Star Game to be held at Wrigley Field It’s official: the MLB All-Star Game will return to Wrigley Field. It’s the first time it’ll be there since Macaulay Culkin became a household name in Home Alone. After eight years’ worth of bids and beefing up security around the ballpark, the Cubs celebrated the announcement with an appearance from Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson. They pretended to like each other just long enough to pose for a pic. Cubs fans get some atonement in the same week after the passing of all-time great Ryne Sandberg, who won the Home Run Derby the last time All-Star weekend was at Wrigley Field. Millions of dollars worth of renovations done between 2014 and 2019, not including recent security upgrades, have paid off. The ROI of the upfront investment could be significant to the city: Atlanta is forecasted to generate at least $50 million in metro-area economic activity from hosting this year’s MLB All-Star Game. Now, if only the Bears can get an indoor stadium anytime soon, the city could attract multiple events like this consistently. For more on how many times Wrigley Field has hosted the Midsummer Classic, click here.

Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium Announces 2025 Stadium Enhancements The hottest tickets in college football are about to get even better. It doesn’t matter where your seat is: you get to see stunning angles of the lake and the city, making Martin Stadium one of the most picturesque stadiums in college football. Northwestern is upgrading the stadium’s amenities to make Friday nights or Saturdays as good as it gets in Evanston. Better audio/visual equipment, a reimagined Beer Garden area, and expanded concession offerings highlight the changes. Fans will also get to enjoy the lakefront view longer, as gates will open earlier before kickoff this season. Overall, the enhancements serve to make Martin Stadium a more captivating venue through technology and refreshments than it already is. Ryan Field, set to open in time for the 2026 season, will have 35,000 seats to triple the seating capacity of Martin Stadium. But it will be hard-pressed to beat catching sunset from Martin Stadium while downing some good beer. Northwestern details all of the stadium enhancements unveiled for the 2025 season.

Wintrust Joins Chicago Stars FC Lakefront Faceoff Match as Presenting Partner Northwestern isn’t the only one utilizing Martin Stadium. The Stars typically play their home games at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. But for the third time since 2012, they will take on a visiting team at Martin Stadium. Wintrust is in its second year as a partner with the Stars and now gets the honor of playing the role of presenting partner for a Sept 7th match against the Orlando Pride. Wintrust has been supporting the Stars through various community initiatives and is featured on the front of their jerseys. The Stars will hope to play more than just special matches at Martin Stadium. They filed for a zoning analysis back in May to explore whether they could call the one-of-one Martin Stadium home starting next season. Home and away fans would cheer that move because you can’t really beat the lakefront views. Check out more info on the partnership between Wintrust and Chicago Stars.

Grand Slam Track Misses Deadline to Pay Athletes $3 Million Track and field has had a visibility problem forever. It’s one of the most popular sports during the Olympics, but professional track athletes still compete during non-Olympic years. Those meets they run at get little to no fanfare, and as a result, their pay for those meets is laughable ($10,000 for winning a race as part of the Diamond League doesn’t even cover training costs). Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track (GST) was supposed to fix this with promises of unheard-of payouts for winners of its events. Johnson, a 4x Olympic gold medalist during the 90s, intimately understands how little athletes earn from track. He was a master marketer leading up to GST’s premier in Kingston, Jamaica, in April. He boasted about $30 million raised from investors to help solve track and field’s age-old dilemma: how to keep track on people’s minds in non-Olympic years with more high-profile events so that the athletes can earn higher wages. If it sounded too good from the onset, it’s now proving maybe it was. Front Office Sports goes into detail on what has gone wrong and the total amount owed to athletes from the three summer meets.

Walmart, MLS ink partnership to capitalize on growing U.S. soccer fandom MLS has been busy racking up sponsorship deals in preparation for next summer’s World Cup. The MLS is an often overlooked league that hardcore soccer fans ignore for Europe’s soccer leagues, and it trails the NFL, NBA, and MLB in popularity by wide margins. Bringing on Walmart as an official sponsor will do wonders to help increase its visibility. It’s not a one-sided deal at all as Walmart will gain an exclusive foothold to market to the MLS’s young and diverse fanbase, which is the youngest on average among U.S. men’s professional sports. The MLS has the most to gain, though, as it hopes to ride the momentum before and after the World Cup hits the U.S. next summer to drastically increase interest in its league. Read more on how both sides stand to benefit from the partnership.

Inside Texas Tech’s ‘open checkbook’ and the school’s quest to rule the Big 12 Texas Tech is rewriting the old cliche of ‘defense wins championships’ to ‘money wins championships’. Some programs have buckled at the new reality of college sports. Most recruits and transfers won’t even listen to a pitch from coaches unless there’s a certain number of zeroes on the check offered. The Red Raiders are fully embracing the new norm. Spearheaded by oil and gas magnate Cody Campbell, Texas Tech wants to chart a new path to the top of college sports. College football is the biggest moneymaker, so the largest concentration of funds and attention will be placed there. But Texas Tech is also putting efforts behind basketball, baseball, and college softball in efforts to reach new heights they’ve never been as a program. Back to football, the school has put together a $25 million roster, $5 million more than defending national champs Ohio State did for last year’s squad. Of course, with the big spending comes lofty expectations and scrutiny. ‘Big 12 title or bust’ is the motto coming out of the front office despite the fact they’ve never even appeared in the title game. If they somehow fall flat, Texas Tech will have to deal with an avalanche of memes and jokes criticizing their approach to being more competitive. Explore who they’ve signed and how much they have committed to recruits across all sports.