The Chicago Fire, of North American soccer's top-tier MLS, have brought in global fast-food chain McDonald's as the inaugural naming rights partner for their new stadium, set to open in 2028.
The privately-funded venue – costing around $750 million – will be called McDonald's Park and be located in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood, at a riverfront location to be known as The 78. Ground was broken on the facility in March.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
This represents McDonald's first such naming rights deal for a major US professional sports stadium.
The brand will have a permanent McDonald's flagship restaurant on the premises, while there will also be "immersive fan and culinary experiences" throughout the venue, which will have a capacity of over 22,000 for soccer games and over 31,000 for other events, such as concerts.
In addition, McDonald's will act as the presenting partner of the Fire's youth soccer development program.
Ronald McDonald House, meanwhile, becomes the premier partner of the Chicago Fire Foundation (its charitable arm), and will activate this at the stadium in and around home games.
The Fire currently play their home games at the historic Soldier Field stadium, and train at the Endeavor Health Performance Center facility, which only opened last year (after costing $100 million to build).
The team finished eighth in the 15-team Western Conference of the MLS in the 2025 season.
In terms of its most prominent soccer tie-ups, McDonald's also has a title sponsorship deal in place with Ligue 1, France's top division. That deal came into effect in mid-2024 and runs through the 2026-27 campaign.
The fast food giant is reportedly paying as much as €20 million (at that point, $21.7 million) for these rights. McDonald's is also a sponsor of Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais.
