Guaranteed Rate Field

Lore & Background

The stadium was not the first major sporting facility built in Chicago since Chicago Stadium in 1929; other major venues like the United Center (built 1994) postdate it, and the claim was false even at its 1991 opening. It was the last MLB park built before the wave of new 'retro-classic' ballparks in the 1990s and 2000s. A few design features from the old Comiskey Park were retained, including arched windows on the front facade and an 'exploding scoreboard' that pays homage to the original installed by Bill Veeck in 1960. The original field dimensions and seating configuration were similar to those of Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. The park was initially criticized because of the height of the upper deck, which was set back to eliminate overhang but created one of the highest upper decks in baseball. Since 2001, the team has altered the stadium in response to fan complaints, adding a multi-tiered concourse beyond center field, adjusting the fences, and removing 6,600 seats at the top of the upper deck.

In Their Own Story

The lights hum on over the diamond, and the river below catches the glow in long amber streaks. A kid in a faded 2005 Konerko jersey presses his face against the railing in the third-base stands, watching the pitcher wind up while his grandfather, three rows back, mutters the same play-by-play he's been calling since '58. The crowd is a wall of blue and white, of caps and worn-out foam fingers, of a city that has learned to love a team not for what it wins but for what it endures. The bat cracks. The ball sails. For one suspended second, the whole West Loop holds its breath—then the roar hits the water and the water hits back, and the kid is screaming, and the old man is smiling, and the night belongs to every White Sox fan who ever walked past the river and felt the pull of the lights.

Reader's Guide

Rate Field has 103 luxury suites on two levels, 1,822 club seats on the 300-level mezzanine, 400 wheelchair-accessible seats, 38 public restrooms, 12 escalators, and 15 elevators. Attractions include the Fan Deck atop center field concession stands, Miller Lite Landing (a 326-seat section in right field with running water fixtures), Craft Kave (a two-tiered open-air section in right field), Rain Rooms near sections 107 and 537, a Kids Zone in left field, Speed Pitch Machines near sections 155 and 522, a Shower near Section 160 (a carry-over from old Comiskey Park), Wintrust Scout Seats behind home plate, The Patio behind right center field, #SoxSocial Tap Room near Section 157, Pizza Pub near Section 163, Xfinity Zone near Section 109, Scoreboard Shop under the HD video scoreboard, Home Plate Shop at Section 133, New Era Cap Corner at Section 157, and multiple sculptures of White Sox legends. The stadium also features flickering LED lights for when the team takes the field, hits a home run, or wins a game.

Did You Know?

• The stadium was built across 35th Street from the original Comiskey Park, which was demolished to make way for a parking lot.
• The location of Old Comiskey's home plate is indicated by a marble plaque on the sidewalk next to Guaranteed Rate Field, with the foul lines painted in the parking lot.
• The stadium was originally called Comiskey Park, then renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, then Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016. While it is sometimes colloquially shortened to 'Rate Field,' the official name remains Guara
• The first row of seats in the upper deck is not as far from the field as the old stadium's highest row of seats; the actual distance for the first row of the new upper deck is about 80 feet from home plate, while the old