The Chicago Red Stars are just days away from taking over the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field to play Bay FC. It will be the first women’s sports match on the historic field since July 18, 1944 when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League played a nighttime double-header as a fundraiser for the American Red Cross.
For the Red Stars, this is more than just a game in an iconic venue. Its an opportunity to re-introduce the city of Chicago to its talented soccer team.
“There’s so many people in our city who do not know who we are and what we do. This is an opportunity for us to put ourselves in the middle of the city, and at the forefront.” Team President Karen Leetzow sees the event as a pivotal moment for the Red Stars to take their place in the city of Chicago. A successful night at the ballpark will drive brand awareness, gain crucial data about the fanbase, and secure funding for a new stadium. The trade off? Playing a soccer game on a baseball field
Reaching the Fans
Since the game’s announcement in April, the Red Stars have embarked on an ambitious journey to set a new record for NWSL attendance. Seattle Reign currently holds the record at 34,130 for Megan Rapinoe’s farewell match. Wrigley’s standard configuration holds 41,649 people, and with all seating areas open for ticket sales, the stage is set for the record to fall.
“Getting people excited to come to Wrigley isn’t hard. But what we’re trying to do is something that hasn’t been done before.” Karen Leetzow remarked.
The team partnered with Havas Chicago to launch an advertising campaign centered around the classic baseball tune, Take Me Out to the Ballgame. The iconic song tells the story of Katie Casey, a woman who loves baseball. Her boyfriend asks if she’d like to see a show, and she responds with the song’s popular refrain.
Havas gave the classic tune a modern, punk-rock spin. The song is coupled with images of Red Stars players Penelope Hocking, Jameese Joseph, Leilanni Nesbeth, Ally Schlegel, Sam Staab, and Mackenzie Wood taking over the Wrigley grounds. They dribble down the baseline, drop soccer balls down the aisle stairs, and sing from the broadcast booth.
“It was really cool to experience it before we actually experience it, and just get excited.” Hocking said of her time on the grounds. “Going there was such an incredible experience” Schlegel added. “We were grateful to be a part of it, and we’re pumped. We’re so pumped. It’s gonna be awesome.”
So far, the outreach has been effective. At last club announcement 23,000 tickets had been sold, enough for a new team record. Since then, the Red Stars have seen a surge in ticket sales, and are believed to be approaching the record. The final tally? A surprise to be revealed in Saturday’s game.
Who are These Fans?
When Karen Leetzow joined the Chicago Red Stars, there was very little known about the people coming to their games. “There was no real, robust data on who are fans are, or how to engage them.” This match at Wrigley has been an opportunity to learn.
Notably, for a team trying to raise brand awareness, a whopping 62% of the tickets sold so far are from people who have never been to a match at SeatGeek stadium. This information gathered from ticket sales is crucial for Leetzow. “It provides a better understanding of who our fans are now and who would be our fans in the future.”
The “would be” fans may need a closer stadium to in order to be full-fledged Red Stars Supporters.
SeatGeek Stadium is in Bridgeview, roughly 15 miles from downtown Chicago, and is only accessible by car. This suburban stadium has made it difficult for the club to connect with its namesake city.
While attendance across the league has exploded, the Red Stars sit alone at the bottom of the table with an average attendance of 3,864.
“Bridgeview is a wonderful facility, but a lot of our young fans can’t get there.” Leetzow said of the current facilities. “If we don’t and can’t figure out a path to being a part of this great city, it’s going to be very difficult for us to thrive.”
A Home in the City
The Wrigley Field game comes at a time when public interest in women’s sports has never been higher. The hope now for Leetzow and her front office team is that seeing the Red Stars join the public conversation while the State of Illinois juggles stadium proposals from the White Sox and The Bears.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has made his reluctance to use public funds known in response to the White Sox and Bears stadium proposals.
Women’s sports have never had a publicly-funded stadium, so Leetzow is hoping the Red Stars can appeal on the basis of equity. “Not to take anything away from the Bears and the White Sox, we’re huge fans of all the sports in the city of Chicago, but women’s teams really should be first in line.”
A Soccer Match? On a Baseball Field?
The last time Wrigley hosted a soccer match was in 2012 when AS Roma played a friendly match against Zaglebie Lubin. Back then, the infield dirt was covered in sod. After the match Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg remarked “I’ve played on better fields, but a lot of people came to the game, so it was a nice day.” He elaborated “It was very dry, and not very straight.”
A soccer game on a baseball field presents a unique challenge. The field dimensions for baseball don’t easily translate to fit a full soccer field. NWSL fans of years past may remember the embarrassingly narrow field in Rochester, NY or the turf cutouts in Tacoma, WA. The 2022 NWSLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement outlined new standards for playing surfaces.
Section 16.1 – Surfaces: The NWSLPA and NWSL agree that playing games and training on surfaces with natural grass generally is preferable. At certain times and places, however, play may occur on artificial turf. Still, all regular game and training surfaces, whether grass or artificial turf, must comply with relevant U.S. Soccer standards for surfaces. Exceptions may be made on a temporary basis only for training surfaces, with notice to the NWSLPA if weather or other unforeseen, temporary issues make a Team’s regular training fields unavailable. In this context, “temporary” shall mean for no longer than three (3) days, unless mutually extended by the NWSL and the NWSLPA. Further, no games or training shall occur on any surface that requires substantial conversion to the dimensions of a soccer field.
The Red Stars collaborated with players from both teams, and the Wrigley grounds crew to make sure the field will be fit for play.
“It’s something we as players fought very hard for to not play on baseball fields… obviously this is a very unique opportunity.” Red Stars Captain Alyssa Naeher said during pre-game media availability. “We had a lot of conversations. We walked through our experiences as players on what has worked, and what hasn’t worked when you overlay on a baseball field. The grounds crew was great, they were taking a lot of notes, they were very attentive in wanting to make sure it was done right, and I trust they’re going to do a good job with it.”
Karen Leetzow echoed the confidence in the Wrigley grounds staff. “First of all, you have to know there’s no one whose more proud of their grass than the Wrigley grounds crew.” As a home for many kinds of events in Chicago, the crew is no stranger to field conversions— whether for concerts in the summer, or an NHL game in the dead of winter.
The Wrigley groundskeepers may have learned some new tricks since the last soccer match at the Friendly Confines. In addition to meeting with Red Stars and Bay FC players to hear their concerns, they paid a visit to Yankee Stadium to experience some of the current practices in place for a baseball to soccer conversion.
Work on the field conversion began after the Cubs finished their game against the White Sox on Wednesday night. Crews began early Thursday morning, and expect to work late Friday night until the conversion is complete.
A Momentous day for the Red Stars
This weekend’s match will be the culmination of countless hours of work between the two clubs. Leetzow takes pride in the tremendous effort from the entire Red Stars organization. “This game at Wrigley will be an incredible feat My team has worked incredibly hard and I’m so proud of all of them for what they’re trying to do for the city of Chicago, and for this team.”
On the field, the Red Stars hope for a change in fortune. They come into the Wrigley match on a two game losing skid, having won just two of their six home matches thus far. “We’ll see if we can use that away game mentality.” Head Coach Lorne Donaldson joked during the team’s media availability.
With a record crowd on hand, the evening ought to be memorable no matter the score, but the sixth-place Red Stars would certainly be happy with a win.
Festivities begin at 10AM on Saturday with a Family Fun Festival on Gallagher Way, and continue through the afternoon until first kick at 6:30PM.
Image of Penelope Hocking courtesy of the Chicago Red Stars
Article has been changed to include Alyssa Naeher’s comments on the field conversion