Chicago Stars FC

Did You Know?

• The Red Stars finished second in league attendance in 2009, behind the LA Sol.
• In 2012, the Red Stars won the National Women's Cup with half their roster, since the cup final was played at the same time as their final WPSL Elite regular-season match.
• The Red Stars held the record for the longest active playoff streak (2015–2022) in the NWSL as of October 2022.
• The club was acquired for $60 million by a group led by Laura Ricketts, announced on September 1, 2023.

History

In 2006, Chicago was announced as one of seven cities to field a team in a new women's professional soccer league, joining the Washington Freedom, Boston Breakers, Los Angeles Sol, FC Gold Pride, Sky Blue FC, and Saint Louis Athletica in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) for its inaugural 2009 season. Marcia McDermott, former head coach of Northwestern University women's soccer and the Women's United Soccer Association's Carolina Courage, was named general manager.

On June 3, 2008, the name "Red Stars" was announced at a Toyota Park ceremony, chosen by popular vote from a fan poll that included options such as Progress, Towers, Union, Blues, 1871, and Wind. The name refers to the four six-pointed red stars on the flag of Chicago, each representing a landmark event: Fort Dearborn, the Great Chicago Fire, the 1893 World's Fair, and the 1933 World's Fair. The Red Stars won their first game 1–0 at Saint Louis Athletica, then recorded two ties and a 4–0 shutout of the Boston Breakers, the best starting record in the league except for season champions Los Angeles Sol.

The team then went winless for nine games, including a 451-minute scoring drought, before a 2–1 comeback win over Washington Freedom and a 3–1 victory over last-place FC Gold Pride. They lost four of their last five games, finishing sixth and missing the playoffs. The Red Stars finished second in league attendance in 2009. Peter Wilt stepped down as CEO at the end of 2009 to become general manager of the Milwaukee Wave, and general manager Marcia McDermott assumed many of his responsibilities, though Wilt continued on the league's board of governors and as president of the Chicago Red Stars Charitable Foundation.

Stadiums

During their WPS membership, the Chicago Red Stars played at Toyota Park (now SeatGeek Stadium), a 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium that was home to Chicago Fire FC from 2006 to 2019. From 2011 to 2015, the team played at the 3,000-seat Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex. During the 2012 WPSL Elite season, some matches were held at Concordia University Chicago Athletic Complex and at Lakeside Athletic Field at Northwestern University (now Martin Stadium) due to renovations at Benedictine. The club returned to Toyota Park for the 2016 NWSL season. In September 2025, with the lease at SeatGeek Stadium set to expire, the Stars announced they would play the 2026 season at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.

Ownership

FC Indiana owners Gary Weaver, Dale Weaver, and Shek Borkowski initiated the idea for what became the Chicago Red Stars, bringing in Peter Wilt to lead the effort and assembling a broad ownership group. The Chicago Professional Women's Soccer investor group owned the team from 2009 to 2010, with a 2009 management group of Gary Weaver, Jim Willett, Arnim Whisler, and Peter Wilt, and a 2010 management group of Gary Weaver, Jim Willett, and Arnim Whisler.

The Illinois Women's Soccer League was a partner, and shareholders included John (Jack) Cummins, Robert and Susan Morrison, Jim and Kathi Willett, Dale Weaver, Gary Weaver, Pin Ni, Dong Li, Arnim Whisler, Dean Egerter, Stephen Ritchie, and Peter Wilt. Arnim Whisler took over after the 2010 season and operated the team in the WPSL for 2011 while helping reorganize the WPS, remaining sole owner until 2021. On March 1, 2021, a new ownership group was announced led by co-founder and majority owner Arnim Whisler and his family, including founding members Dean Egerter and Steve Ritchie, plus Jessie Becker, Julie Haddon, Israel Idonije, Jordan Levin, Abel Lezcano, Colleen Mares, Michael Raimondi, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Michael Schofield, Sarah Spain, Marie Tillman, Brian Walsh, Kevin Willer, and David M. Zapata.

Further additions on May 4, 2021 included Aimee Garcia, Josh Dixon, Bela Bajaria, Channing Dungey and spouse Scott Power, Keli Lee, Devin Johnson and daughter Carys Johnson, Ken Kaufman, Nora Mabie, Kim Vender Moffat, Stephen Moffat, Todd Vender, Nick Coleman, Jon Moonves, Jim Allen, Graham Allen, and Kirk Allen. On August 18, 2022, the NWSL announced it had hired Julie Haddon as chief marketing officer, and that she had divested from the Red Stars prior to taking the job.

On October 10, 2022, Red Stars players called on Whisler to sell the club following reports of his role in the 2021 NWSL abuse scandal. Whisler announced on December 5 that he would sell the team, with investment bank Inner Circle Sports facilitating the sale.

Rory Dames/Arnim Whisler scandal

On November 22, 2021, The Washington Post published allegations from current and former players of abuse by head coach Rory Dames, documenting reports made to the United States Soccer Federation by players including Christen Press as far back as 2014, detailing abuse, harassment, and inappropriate use of power. Three former Red Stars players told the Post they had wanted to speak to U.S. Soccer investigators but never heard from them; two had left the team because of Dames's abuse.

In February 2022, the Post reported claims of misconduct dating to the late 1990s, including a 1998 police report involving a youth player Dames coached at Chicago Eclipse Select. Multiple players alleged having had a sexual relationship with Dames while playing for him at Eclipse, with one accuser saying sex "felt almost expected." Verbal abuse included constant name-calling. Accusers said Dames's role in founding the Elite Clubs National League and his positions with the Red Stars and NWSL discouraged players from speaking up, fearing he could ruin chances at scholarships or professional spots.

One accuser stated that "the monopoly over Chicago soccer, our belief that his connection to the college world was the only connection we would have — he used all of that to get away with doing and saying whatever the hell he wanted to us."