Can the Red Stars and Riot Fest find common ground on Seatgeek Stadium dispute?
Can a professional women's sports team that says it’s been treated unfairly and a highly touted music festival that felt slighted in Chicago find some harmony in the suburbs?
The city of Bridgeview, Riot Fest and the Red Stars are trying to answer that question on the fly.
News broke Wednesday that Riot Fest will be leaving Douglass Park after 10 years at the venue for SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. The festival is scheduled to take place Sept. 20-22, which will impinge upon the Red Stars' nationally televised home match against the San Diego Wave on Sept. 21.
"It is unfair and unfortunate to have our club put in this situation, shining a light on the vast discrepancies in the treatment of women’s professional sports versus men’s professional sports,” Red Stars president Karen Leetzow said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring our players and fans have a first-rate experience on and off the pitch, and we are working diligently to find a solution that will ensure our September 21st game is a success.”
The Red Stars received formal legal notification the evening of June 4 outlining the city's intent to have Riot Fest take place on the grounds outside of SeatGeek Stadium. According to the team's agreement signed in 2019, Bridgeview is permitted to host concurrent events at the field.
But a team source says it is not sure it will be able to operate successfully on gameday if the music fest takes place on the grounds outside the stadium. The team says it has not been provided any details about where sound stages would be located around SeatGeek Stadium or how parking for fans and concert-goers will be handled. The team also has not be given an overall run of show nearly three months out from the event. The lack of clarity has created a concern over how the game can be played, and whether the players and officials will be able to hear whistles over the music coming from Riot Fest.
On Thursday Bridgeview officials denied the team was treated differently because it plays in a women's league.
"The Village’s decision to schedule Riot Fest had nothing to do with gender," the statement said. "As stated, the Village has held concurrent events at the Stadium during games for the Fire, the Hounds, and the Red Stars in the past. The Village’s decision was strictly based on maximizing revenues from the Stadium for the Village taxpayers."
The city did not immediately detail the specific events that were held concurrently at SeatGeek Stadium in the past.
The team source said that at the beginning of May, the Red Stars were told that the city wanted them to change venues for their match scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Sept. 21. The team made clear that if the city could cover the costs required to move venues, they would look for an alternate site, the source said.
The Red Stars did not respond to the notice received on June 4 regarding Riot Fest until Wednesday. Their response made clear they do not believe the city will be able to conduct a music festival, with tens of thousands of fest-goers filling the surrounding area each day, and also hold a successful professional women's soccer match.
Riot Fest organizers said they were unaware the Red Stars were not on board.
"Yesterday, we were shocked to see the statement from the Red Stars regarding their dispute with the stadium, as we were told that accommodations were made and agreed upon," the fest's organizers said in a statement Thursday. "We are optimistic a resolution is forthcoming."
It might be difficult for the team to switch venues at this late date. Soldier Field and Wrigley Field are both unavailable on Sept. 21. The Red Stars broke the NWSL attendance record (35,038) with their match at Wrigley Field on June 8, bringing into question if Guaranteed Rate could be a good fit for the Red Stars.
However, the Red Stars had to go through months of approvals to be permitted to play a match at Wrigley Field. It's unclear if the team would be able to secure the same approvals on such short notice.