A few train stops from DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus, fans stream out of the green metal gates of Wrigley Field, the second-oldest baseball stadium in America. They share a laugh and a cheer as they head into the surrounding neighborhood and celebrate a Chicago Cubs victory. Inside, the ivy-covered brick walls surround the field, and dark green seats rise up into the Chicago sky. The song “Go, Cubs, Go!” blares through the speakers after another win. 

Miquel Lerga and Erin Doherty, DePaul sophomores and psychology majors, agree that Wrigley stands out in the city. 

“It’s very recognizable, and it’s a pretty big social hub,” Lerga said.

“Even if you’re not into baseball, you know what Wrigley Field is,” added Doherty, who is from Evanston, like Lerga.

Chicago is home to some of the most popular sports teams in all of America. While the city awaits another championship, fans still fill Chicago stadiums, keeping the memories of old victories alive. The age and history of each stadium hold the legacies of the teams that call them home. 

In a city of iconic courts, ballparks and fields, which do Chicago students consider the most important? Chicago sports writer and adjunct DePaul professor Fred Mitchell says it comes down to personal connections with the stadiums. 

“It’s the history and tradition that so many fans relate to,” Mitchell said. 

Mitchell added that, when attending games, fans’ experiences often bring back “long-lasting and everlasting” memories of being at stadiums with friends and parents. 

Many Chicagoans remember taking the train to 35th Street, where Rate Field emerges next to the Dan Ryan Expressway and the Chicago Transit Authority’s elevated tracks. As the sun sets behind home plate, Chicago White Sox fans shuffle into the stadium from the parking lot, trains and surrounding neighborhoods. The stadium fills with the team’s iconic black and white colors. 

The Bridgeport area stadium may not be as old as their North Side counterparts, but all the history and culture is still present. Fans can enjoy rainbow cones, a Sox staple since 1926, while celebrating home runs with their firework-shooting scoreboard. Demolished in 1991 to make way for the new Comiskey Park, since renamed to Rate Field, the old Comiskey Park was built in 1910. At the time of its replacement, it was the oldest baseball stadium in Major League Baseball.

Sylvia Meyers, a sophomore at the University of Illinois Chicago, says Comiskey Park’s legacy lives on in Chicago.

“The Sox drew such a massive crowd of people from all parts of the city, so it created a rich community aspect,” said Meyers, an Oak Park resident.

While the old stadium no longer remains, Meyers says its iconic memory still impacts the city. 

While memories of Comiskey Park and its history remain, the White Sox have not brought home a championship since 2005. 

Soldier Field, which sits along the lake near the South Loop, has a similar legacy. Built in 1924, it is home to the Chicago Bears. Since then, the stadium has gone through its fair share of changes. A 2003 renovation combined the stadium’s historic columned facade, which is a protected historical landmark, with a modern metal and glass seating arrangement, bringing the oldest stadium in the NFL into the 21st century while keeping part of its iconic look.

The stadium may be more modern now, but fans like Maddison Mlady, a DePaul sophomore public relations and marketing major, said Soldier Field’s storied past makes it iconic. 

“There’s a lot of history there, and it’s been there forever,” said Mlady, a Chicago native. “We’re holding strong.”

Even with rumors of the Bears moving to Arlington Heights or Indiana, Mlady said Soldier Field maintains an atmosphere like no other.

“Most Chicagoans are Bears fans and they’re pretty die-hard,” Mlady said. “The energy in the field is very powerful.”

While the Bears currently remain Chicago’s team, they haven’t brought a championship to Chicago since 1986. 

The most recent championship in the city, outside of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky in 2021, was the Cubs’ in 2016. Winning a seminal Game 5 in Wrigley Field, which sparked their historic 3-1 comeback against the then-Cleveland Indians the Cubs reversed the Curse of the Billy Goat and granted the team their first championship in a century. Mitchell said moments like these are unforgettable for fans.

“I heard so many fans remembering going to Wrigley Field with their parents, their grandparents who are no longer alive,” Mitchell recalled, “saying that they wish they could be able to experience their favorite team win a championship.”

Lerga, a Cubs fan since childhood, said memories of Cubs games and their eventual World Series victory cemented Wrigley as the most iconic stadium in the city. 

“The Cubs are a very important team in Chicago,” Lerga said. “Their World Series was important in Chicago.” 

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