With a $650 Million Self-Funded Stadium,...

Excel’s Miller, meanwhile, noted that this new stadium will be the first new major sports facility to open in the city of Chicago since the United Center in 1994. It’ll be at the center of 9 million Chicago-area residents and 100 million annual city visitors. 

While Excel has previously sold naming rights for MLS facilities including Austin’s Q2 Stadium and Nashville SC’s GEODIS Park—as well as Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins—Miller noted that this facility is unique for its central location in the city, its visibility from highways and trains, and its potential as both a soccer and entertainment venue. Having worked with players on Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs and on partnership deals for both the Bulls and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, Excel is trying to convey to brands in both Chicago and beyond the value of the Fire’s place in Chicago’s future.

“We’re at the point right now as we go out to brands, as opposed to telling them where they’re going to hang their sign, we can work with them to say, ‘Where do you want your sign hung? What do we want to do to make this building feel like United Park?’” Miller said. “Not only does a brand have the opportunity to be a part of the building itself, but this neighborhood will be branded and this brand will become a permanent fixture in the Chicago skyline.”