As the Major League Soccer (MLS) team Chicago Fire FC builds a marquee home for Chicago (US) at the McDonald’s Park the club is committed to delivering an exceptional fan experience while establishing a new standard across MLS for operational excellence.
The new home of the Chicago Fire FC – the McDonald’s Park – is scheduled to open in 2028.
Coliseum Summit US 2026 will take place in Chicago on August 26–27, with Ted Glick from Chicago Fire sharing insights into the club’s future stadium plans and the initiatives currently underway.
Converged Network
‘boldyn NETWORKS’ stated that to help realize this vision the Chicago Fire FC has chosen Boldyn Networks, the MLS’s trusted supplier, to design and deploy a future-ready converged network across one of the league’s most anticipated new venues.
New York (US)-based the Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams with 27 in the United States and three in Canada and is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation. The MLS is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
The Chicago Fire Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Chicago (US). The club competes in the Major League Soccer (MLS) as a Member of the Eastern Conference.
The 62,500-seat Soldier Field is a multipurpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924, the stadium serves as the digs of the Major League Soccer (MLS) team Chicago Fire FC.
London (UK)-based the Boldyn Networks unlocks the power of an interconnected future. Building shared communications infrastructure that enables new possibilities for the connected transit, the venues, the enterprise, and the next-generation networks and the smart cities.
McDonald’s Park
The Chicago Fire FC is building a $750 million, privately-funded, 22,000-seat soccer-specific stadium named McDonald’s Park at ‘The 78’ riverfront development in Chicago’s (US) South Loop. The year-round venue will feature a permanent flagship McDonald’s restaurant and host team matches, concerts and community programs.
Scheduled to open in 2028, the McDonald’s Park is slated to be a year-round entertainment destination and the primary anchor of ‘The 78’ mega-development in Chicago’s South Loop.
Expertise-Innovation
Remarked Goyo Perez, Chief Partnership Officer, Chicago Fire FC, “As we prepare the McDonald’s Park to become a new landmark for the city, having the right connectivity partner will be critical in delivering a world-class experience. We are confident that we’re in the best hands with the Boldyn Networks who brings the expertise and innovation needed to elevate our new stadium.”
Added Jason Caliento, Chief Commercial Officer, US, Boldyn Networks, “Chicago is one of the most important sports and entertainment markets in the United States and the continued growth of soccer here demands a venue built for the future. Boldyn is proud to partner with the Chicago Fire FC to deliver a digital foundation that supports the modern fans and the operational and commercial needs. Our work across the Major League Soccer (MLS) venues reflects the league’s confidence in the Boldyn Networks as a trusted distributed antenna system (DAS) connectivity supplier.”
Rapid Growth
‘boldyn NETWORKS’ further stated that soccer continues its rapid growth across the United States driven by the rising attendance to the venues and momentum from the recent FIFA World Cup 2026™.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup™ was the 23rd FIFA World Cup™, the quadrennial international Men’s soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament began on June 11th, 2026, and concluded on July 19th, 2026, with Spain winning the championship for the second time. It was jointly hosted by 16 cities – 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada. The tournament was the first FIFA World Cup™ to be hosted by three countries and the first to include 48 teams, an expansion from the previous 32-team format.
MLS state-of-the-art Stadiums
Commented Chris Schlosser, Senior Vice-President, Emerging Ventures, MLS, “Our relationship with the Boldyn Networks is based on a long history of collaborating around the opening of the new stadiums which includes the 26,700-seat Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida, the new home of the MLS team Inter Miami CF, the 22,000-seat BMO Stadium in Los Angeles which plays host to the MLS team – the Los Angeles Football Club – and the MLS team New York City FC’s upcoming stadium – the under-construction 25,000-seat Etihad Park in Queens, New York City, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2027. Boldyn brings significant experience in delivering future-ready DAS connectivity that continues to drive both fan engagement and the business outcomes across the new state-of-the-art stadiums opening in MLS.”
The Boldyn Networks high-performance deployment throughout the McDonald’s Park includes:
- The neutral host 5G distributed antenna system (DAS) supporting all the major wireless carriers;
- The high-density Wi-Fi across the seating Bowl, the suites, the clubs, the concourses, and the outdoor gathering areas;
- The converged fiber backbone supporting the venue connectivity, the broadcast operations, the security systems, and the fan-facing digital services;
- The comprehensive architecture designed to support 5G, the Wi-Fi 7, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the emerging fan engagement technologies; and
- The integrated network management delivering the real-time visibility, performance monitoring and the operational reliability.
Turning Infrastructure into a Strategic Business Driver
The platform deployed by the Boldyn Networks will help enable the new commercial opportunities and the long-term value for the Fire. The enhanced digital capabilities will support increased per-capita spending across concessions, merchandise and premium experiences while enabling new sponsorship and engagement prospects. Designed to provide a scalable digital connectivity foundation for more than a decade, Boldyn’s deployment will reduce the technology obsolescence and support the ongoing innovation thus ensuring Fire’s new home remains at the forefront of the sport’s evolution.
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