Chicago sports: a fan’s guide to every team

This guide is for anyone heading to a Chicago game for the first time, or the first time in a while: the transplant who just got Cubs tickets from a coworker, the parent taking a kid to a Sox game, the out-of-towner who wants to see the Bulls and the Blackhawks in one trip. It covers every major pro team in the area plus the soccer clubs, the WNBA and the minor league options in the suburbs.

For each venue you get the L stop, the Metra option, what parking actually costs, where to eat and drink within a few blocks, and what a local would warn you about. It also lays out the Bears situation, which changed again in 2026.

Wrigley Field

The Cubs play at 1060 W. Addison St., at Clark and Addison in Wrigleyville. The Red Line Addison stop drops you at the right field corner, and the #22 Clark and #152 Addison buses stop at the gates. The Cubs’ own transportation page tells fans to take transit, and that is honest advice. Parking is the worst in the city on game days: the residential streets east and west of the park are permit-only during games, the private lots along Clark charge whatever the market will bear, and the Cubs run remote lots with shuttles for people who insist on driving. If you must drive, park near a Brown Line stop in Lincoln Square or North Center and ride in.

The ballpark is small, so almost any seat is close. The upper deck behind home plate is the value pick and stays in the shade for day games. The bleachers are general admission, cash-free and 21-and-over in spirit if not in policy; go with a group, not with small kids. April and September night games get cold fast off the lake. Wrigley hosts the 2027 All-Star Game, which the Cubs site already lists.

Where to go before and after

Across Sheffield from the bleacher gate, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/murphys-bleachers/Murphy’s Bleachers, 3655 N. Sheffield Ave., is the pregame default, with a beer garden and pub food; the bar opens at 11 a.m. and the line forms early on weekends. A block south, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/sluggers-bar/Sluggers, 3540 N. Clark St., has batting cages and dueling pianos upstairs and stays open until 2 a.m. most nights. Two blocks north of the park, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/gman-tavern/Gman Tavern, 3740 N. Clark St., is the quieter option next to Metro, with a rotating draft list, a $6 Chicago Handshake special on non-game days and doors two hours before every Cubs home game. On the Waveland side, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/lucky-dorr/Lucky Dorr, 1101 W. Waveland Ave., pours Illinois craft beer and is a good bet when you want to drink something other than a domestic light.

Rate Field, the former Guaranteed Rate Field

The White Sox park at 333 W. 35th St. dropped a word from its name in 2025 and is now Rate Field, which is how the team’s own site lists it. Locals still say Sox Park or the Cell. The Red Line Sox-35th stop is across the Dan Ryan from the gates by a covered walkway, and the Green Line 35th-Bronzeville-IIT stop is about a 10-minute walk east. Metra’s Rock Island line stops at 35th Street on game days. Driving is easier here than at Wrigley: the team lots surround the park and open early, and tailgating is allowed in them, which is the one thing the South Side park does that the North Side park cannot.

The lower bowl between the bases is the best seat for the money, and the 100-level outfield seats are cheap on weeknights. The 500 level is steep and high; if you sit there, stay in the first few rows. Weeknight games in April and May are often lightly attended, which means short lines and easy upgrades. The park is next to the Dan Ryan, so a stiff wind off the expressway and the lake makes night games colder than the forecast says.

Bridgeport before the game

The neighborhood west of the park has better food than the ballpark. https://windycitymagazine.com/business/marias-packaged-goods-and-community-bar/Maria’s Packaged Goods & Community Bar, 960 W. 31st St., is half liquor store and half bar, with the Korean-Polish kitchen Kimski attached and a patio; the bar opens at 4 p.m. on weekdays, noon on Saturday. https://windycitymagazine.com/business/ricobenes/Ricobene’s, 252 W. 26th St., is where you get the breaded steak sandwich, a Bridgeport specialty the size of a shoe, and the restaurant is open until at least 12:30 a.m. every night. For a sit-down dinner after a day game, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/the-duck-inn/The Duck Inn, 2701 S. Eleanor St., does a whole rotisserie duck you reserve in advance and a duck-fat hot dog at the bar; dinner starts at 5 p.m. and the restaurant is closed at lunch on weekdays.

United Center

The Bulls and Blackhawks share the United Center at 1901 W. Madison St. on the Near West Side. The Blue Line Illinois Medical District stop is about a 10-minute walk south, the Green and Pink lines stop at Ashland a similar walk north, and the #20 Madison bus stops out front. The arena lots charge a flat fee that runs higher than the Sox lots, and the streets around the arena are largely permit or tow zones on event nights. Most regulars park at a bar with a shuttle instead.

The 100 level is expensive for both teams; the 300 level corners are the affordable seat with a full view of the ice or floor, and the 200 level is club seating that comes with its own concourse. Hockey is colder than basketball in the same building, so bring a layer. Bulls and Hawks weeknight games start at 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., which makes a 5 p.m. arrival in the West Loop the plan.

Bars with a shuttle

Three places near the arena run free shuttles on event nights, which solves the parking problem. https://windycitymagazine.com/business/billy-goat-tavern-madison/Billy Goat Tavern on Madison, 1535 W. Madison St., is the family’s West Side location, open from 6 a.m. for cheeseburgers and eggs, with the kitchen and bar staying open late on game nights. https://windycitymagazine.com/business/park-tavern/Park Tavern, 1645 W. Jackson Blvd., validates parking in the garage across the street and runs a shuttle to the arena; the regular hours are short, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, but the tavern stays open late whenever the United Center has an event. In the West Loop, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/kaiser-tiger/Kaiser Tiger, 1415 W. Randolph St., is a sausage-and-beer bar with a beer garden, bocce and bags, plus a shuttle to the arena; happy hour runs 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and is suspended on event nights.

Soldier Field and the Bears question

The Bears still play at Soldier Field, 1410 S. Museum Campus Drive, and will for at least the next few seasons. Getting there: the Roosevelt stop on the Red, Orange and Green lines is a 15-to-20-minute walk east across the Museum Campus, the #146 bus runs from the Loop to the stadium on game days, and Metra Electric stops at 18th Street/Museum Campus. The stadium lots and the Adler and Waldron garages sell out and cost more than a cheap ticket; the South Lot tailgate scene is the reason people pay. Sunday noon kickoffs mean a 9 a.m. arrival for tailgaters. The seating bowl is the smallest in the NFL, and the 400 level behind the end zones is the affordable seat. It is also fully exposed to the wind in December.

Where the stadium is going

The Bears bought the 326-acre Arlington Park racetrack site in Arlington Heights in 2023 for a stadium, and as recently as September 2025 team president Kevin Warren said the team was moving there. That plan stalled in Springfield. After the Illinois legislature adjourned on June 1, 2026 without passing a stadium bill, the Bears’ board voted on June 5 to pursue a stadium in Hammond, Indiana, where lawmakers had approved public funding earlier in the year. At an August 13, 2026 news conference the team said its focus was on two Hammond sites, the Lost Marsh golf course and the Wolf Lake Terminals, with financing still being assembled and no decision announced, according to the Chicago Tribune. The team has not said what it would do with the Arlington Heights land, and Gov. JB Pritzker has said he is open to a special session. As of late September 2026 there is no groundbreaking anywhere, so plan on Soldier Field through at least 2027. The team will keep the name Chicago Bears wherever it lands.

Bears bars in the South Loop

Two blocks from the Cermak Green Line stop, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/reggies-chicago/Reggies, 2105 S. State St., runs a Bears tailgate party before home games, a Free Sox Sunday bus in baseball season and a shuttle to Fire matches; the kitchen is open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight. In Printers Row, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/kaseys-tavern/Kasey’s Tavern, 701 S. Dearborn St., opens at 10 a.m. for Sunday Bears home games and has more than 130 beers, and it is a short walk to the Roosevelt station or the #146 bus.

Soccer, WNBA and minor leagues

Chicago Fire FC

The Fire play MLS matches at Soldier Field, same directions as above, and drew bigger crowds after signing Robert Lewandowski in June 2026. Tickets are far cheaper than Bears tickets, and the supporters’ section is in the north end. Because the Bears’ park district lease blocks events for five days on either side of a Bears game, some fall Fire dates move to SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, which is a drive or a Pace bus. The club is building McDonald’s Park, a privately funded soccer stadium at Roosevelt Road and the river on The 78 site south of the Loop, and the Fire site says the team expects to open there in spring 2028.

Chicago Sky

The Sky play at Wintrust Arena, 200 E. Cermak Road, next to McCormick Place. The Cermak-McCormick Place Green Line stop is two blocks west, and the Metra Electric McCormick Place station is under the convention center. The team moved a handful of 2026 home games against the Indiana Fever to the United Center and set a franchise attendance record there. The WNBA season runs May to September, so the arena is DePaul basketball and concerts through the winter. Reggies, above, is the closest good bar.

Chicago Stars FC

The NWSL club formerly called the Red Stars left SeatGeek Stadium after 2025 and plays the 2026 season, and the 2027 season, at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium on Northwestern’s lakefront campus in Evanston, a 12,000-seat venue the university built as a temporary football home. A proposal to play at the new Ryan Field was withdrawn in March 2026 after neighbors objected. Take the Purple Line to Noyes and walk east, or Metra’s Union Pacific North line to Central Street. Street parking near campus is restricted, so the Central Street business strip is where to park and eat. https://windycitymagazine.com/business/hewn/Hewn, 1733 Central St., is a bakery that mills local grains and opens at 7 a.m.; https://windycitymagazine.com/business/backlot-coffee/Backlot Coffee, 2006 Central St., roasts its own and is open until 5 p.m. daily, both with metered parking that is free on Sundays.

Minor leagues

The Chicago Wolves, the AHL affiliate whose 2026-27 season starts in October, play at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, about a mile from the Rosemont Blue Line stop. The Chicago Dogs, an independent American Association team, play at Impact Field in Rosemont near the same stop, May through September. The Windy City Bulls, the Bulls’ G League team, play at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, which is a drive. For summer baseball with a Metra option, the Schaumburg Boomers’ Wintrust Field is next to the Milwaukee District West Schaumburg station, the Joliet Slammers play a short walk from the Rock Island line’s Joliet station, and the Kane County Cougars play in Geneva. All of them sell tickets for less than a Cubs bleacher seat and have parking that costs little or nothing.

Good to know

Baseball ends in October and the Cubs and Sox lots and bars go quiet until April. Bears home games run September through early January. Bulls and Blackhawks seasons run October through April, so the United Center is busy all winter. The Sky season is over for 2026, and the Stars’ season ends in November. Every venue in this guide is cashless and uses mobile tickets, so charge your phone. Fire fall dates can move between Soldier Field and Bridgeview on short notice; check the club’s schedule the week of the match. The Bears stadium question could change with a special session in Springfield or a vote in Indiana. Checked September 28, 2026.

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