Chicago Stars will play their 2026 NWSL season at Northwestern’s lakefront Martin Stadium

The ultimate goal for the Chicago Stars is to one day play in the team’s own stadium.

But Stars President Karen Leetzow believes the club has landed on an intriguing new option to be their home for now. The Stars announced Wednesday that they will play their 2026 National Women’s Soccer League season at Northwestern’s Martin Stadium in Evanston.

Martin Stadium, with a capacity of about 12,000, is home to Northwestern’s women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s soccer teams and also is the temporary home of the football team as the new Ryan Field is constructed. The new football stadium is targeted to open in 2026.

Leetzow said Martin Stadium is the right size for a professional women’s soccer team at the moment and its accessibility by train, car or bike is an important factor.

“It is incredibly accessible,” Leetzow said. “It’s in a terrific community that is very supportive of women’s sports. It’s close to a built-in fan base with university students. It’s just got all the things you could possibly want for these athletes.

“And for me, the focus is really, how do I get these world-class female athletes in front of the audience they deserve? And this is a place to do it.”

The Stars will play the Orlando Pride at 2 p.m. Sunday at Martin Stadium in an event called the “Lakefront Faceoff,” two days after Northwestern’s football home opener against Western Illinois. It will serve as a trial run for next season.

The Stars have played at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview since 2016, when they moved from Benedictine University in Lisle.

They have drawn big crowds at feature events in Chicago, including 35,038 for a game against Bay FC at Wrigley Field in June 2024. This June, 26,942 fans attended a doubleheader with Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire at Soldier Field.

But attendance at south suburban SeatGeek has been more of a challenge for the Stars, who are 1-9-8 this season and will welcome a new coach, Martin Sjögren, in 2026.

In a league that averaged 11,250 fans per match in 2024, the Stars drew 3,376 fans to their home opener March 23 and 2,473 fans to their most recent home match against the North Carolina Courage on Aug. 22. The “Lakefront Faceoff” is on track to be the Stars’ highest-attended solo game this season, a team representative said.

Leetzow called SeatGeek “a beautiful stadium” but acknowledged the challenges the location poses.

“They’ve been incredible hosts to us, but really, really hard for our fans to get to,” Leetzow said. “And certainly with nationally televised schedules, there are challenges when they want to do a Friday night game. Getting people from the city of Chicago out to Bridgeview has just been a crazy challenge. It’s an hour-and-a-half drive in traffic. And so we’ve had those kind of issues just with accessibility.”

Now the Stars hope to draw fans in Evanston, which has a built-in women’s sports fan base given the success of some of Northwestern’s teams.

The Wildcats field hockey team has won two of the last four national championships. The women’s lacrosse team has won eight national titles and was the runner-up in the spring. And the women’s golf team won the national championship in May.

Leetzow said the Stars hope not only to capitalize on such a fan base, but also to give back and inspire it.

“When you’re in college, you’re looking at the athletes that are playing on our team and saying, ‘I want to be that or I could be that,’” Leetzow said. “Or even looking up to us sports executives, and so we’re hoping to inspire people on and off the pitch about what women’s sports can be in terms of a career and a choice for their future.

“But we’ve got to get there first, so we’re excited to get there.”

Leetzow said the Evanston community has been “incredibly welcoming.” The Stars are trying to build relationships there by running a clinic, participating in a soccer festival, attending night markets and meeting with local business leaders.

“The club’s commitment to our community through their youth programming and their collaboration with our local businesses will serve as an inspiration for the next generation and create a strong connection between the club and our community,” Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said in a statement.

The Stars also have worked with Northwestern to make sure the partnership thrives, including addressing slight modifications to the pitch and to the branding the Stars will need at the stadium for their games.

“It’s different working with a university than it is working with a professional stadium,” Leetzow said. “So it took a little bit of us understanding them and them understanding us. So getting the ball rolling and building those relationships so that we could put on a great event took a little bit of time.”

The Stars will continue to train at SeatGeek Stadium for the “foreseeable future,” Leetzow said. They shared the training facilities at SeatGeek with the Fire until the MLS team moved to the Endeavor Health Performance Center in Chicago this year.

But a new training facility is on the Stars’ project list.

The Stars’ own stadium also remains an “aspiration.” Leetzow helped put on the club’s game at Wrigley Field last year and wants to give her players a place they can feel that level of support and energy on the field.

“That’s what every professional team wants for itself is to have a place to play where we’re not running into conflicts around scheduling the stadium or how to sell concessions and all the things,” Leetzow said. “So that is still our goal.

“That said, we don’t have a place to play that is as beautiful as this one. And so we’re excited to come to Evanston and play in a place where we can actually put these fans in front of these players. That’s what these female athletes deserve, and I’m excited to give it to them.”

The Stars announced that existing season ticket holders will receive priority seating options at the new venue. Ticket information is at starsnextchapter.com.