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.
The simmering dispute surfaced after news broke Wednesday that Riot Fest will be leaving Douglass Park, its West Side home for 10 years, and moving to SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.
The music festival is scheduled for Sept. 20-22, which will overlap with the Red Stars’ nationally televised home soccer match against the San Diego Wave on Sept. 21.
The plan is for both events to be held that same day — sparking the team to read the riot act to Bridgeview city officials.
“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 issued Wednesday.
“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.”
On Thursday, Bridgeview rejected any suggestion the southwest suburb is treating women athletes any differently from men who have competed in sporting events at the venue, arguing that other teams have played games at SeatGeek Stadium the same time that other events were held.
The Red Stars did receive formal legal notification the evening of June 4 outlining Bridgeview officials’ 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 game day 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 both Red Star fans and concert-goers will be handled.
The team also contends that it has not been given an overall plan for the concert festival nearly three months out from the event. They argue that the lack of clarity raises concerns 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 issued a statement saying that their decisions were based solely on what is best for taxpayers, insisting the Red Stars were not receiving any different treatment because they play in a women’s soccer 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.”
Bridgeview officials did not detail the specific games and events that were held concurrently at SeatGeek Stadium in the past.
But a Red Star source suggests that Bridgeview knew more than a month ago that concurrent events could pose a problem this time.
The 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 official notice they received on June 4 about 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 completely unaware the soccer team was seeing red over their plans.
“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.”
Ironically, Riot Fest organizers said they were leaving Douglass Park because they had become disenchanted with their Chicago hosts.
“Riot Fest will be leaving Douglass Park,” festival co-founder Mike Petryshyn wrote in a social media post Tuesday. “And — allow me to be as clear as the azure sky of the deepest summer — our exodus is solely because of the Chicago Park District.”
As for the Red Stars, even if they did decide to switch venues, it might be difficult at this late date. Soldier Field and Wrigley Field are both unavailable on Sept. 21, bringing into question if Guaranteed Rate Field could be a good fit for the Red Stars.
The Red Stars broke the National Women’s Soccer League attendance record (35,038) with their match at Wrigley Field on June 8. However, they 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 for Guaranteed Rate Field.