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Chicago Red Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, center, speaks with defender Tatumn Milazzo (23) and forward Mallory Swanson after losing to Bay FC on June 8, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Red Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, center, speaks with defender Tatumn Milazzo (23) and forward Mallory Swanson after losing to Bay FC on June 8, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
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The Chicago Red Stars could seek legal action as Riot Fest’s relocation to Bridgeview is attempting to force the team to move a game in September, sources told the Tribune.

Riot Fest announced Wednesday that it is moving to SeatGeek Stadium in the southwest suburb. The music festival will run from Sept. 20-22 — conflicting with the Sept. 21 Red Stars-San Diego Wave match. The decision drew ire from Red Stars leadership, which is now scrambling to find a new home for a nationally broadcast match in a whiplash moment only days after drawing a league-record crowd for a match at Wrigley Field.

“It’s devastating,” team President Karen Leetzow told the Tribune. “It’s devastating to have to go from that kind of a high to this kind of a low, to tell your staff and players that this is the level of respect we’ve gotten immediately after delivering that event.”

Bridgeview mayor Steven Landek first informed the Red Stars in early May of a potential need to vacate the stadium for the Sept. 21 game. Following an initial conversation, the Red Stars never received a follow-up or logistical support from the mayor’s office, even after reaching out for clarification, sources told the Tribune. The Red Stars found out Bridgeview was moving forward with plans to use the stadium on that date when a lawyer with Riot Fest reached out to the club earlier this month in regards to signing a contract with the village. The Tribune left a message for Landek seeking comment on the situation.

The current lease allows for SeatGeek and the city to host ancillary events at the same time as Red Stars games. However, the lease specifies that the stadium must be available for the specified use, which includes parking and accessibility to the stadium. The scope of Riot Fest raises other concerns — for instance, how noise pollution from a multistage festival could interfere with the ability of a referee to officiate the game as well as the safety of players, staff and fans coming and going to the stadium — that led the Red Stars to feel it would be impossible to host the previously scheduled game.

As of Wednesday, the Red Stars had not received any information on the logistics of how the events would be able to coexist on match day or even how Riot Fest planned to use the space.

The Red Stars have not located a new venue for the match and aren’t certain they will have an appropriate replacement on the same date. The Cubs play host to the Nationals on Sept. 21 at Wrigley Field while the White Sox will be on a six-game swing in California, leaving Guaranteed Rate Field unoccupied. Neither the Bears nor Fire plays at Soldier Field on that date, but sources told the Tribune that the Red Stars have been informed the stadium will not be available. Even if the Red Stars find an appropriate replacement venue, the cost could be prohibitively steep.

If the Red Stars are able to find a new location for the game, the club would want fees and costs to relocate and broadcast the match nationally to come from the involved parties forcing their game out of the stadium. But the club has not received any assurances that either party would contribute to mitigate these costs, sources told the Tribune.

The game holds heightened stakes for the Red Stars and the NWSL as it is slated for a national broadcast on Ion. This complicates the logistics for use of the parking lot amid the festival. Only five of the remaining Red Stars regular-season games are scheduled for a national broadcast.

“It is unfair and unfortunate to have our club put in this situation, shining a light on the vast discrepancies in the treatment of women’s professional sports versus men’s professional sports,” Leetzow said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring our players and fans have a first-rate experience on and off the pitch, and we are working diligently to find a solution that will ensure our September 21st game is a success.”

The conflict comes at a turning point for the Red Stars, who on Saturday drew a league-record 35,038 fans at Wrigley Field for a match against Bay FC.

Photos: Chicago Red Stars set NWSL attendance record at Wrigley Field

The Red Stars have played at SeatGeek since 2016. The stadium’s distance from the city center and lack of transit access have been key points of criticism for the franchise as the team continues to slip behind competitors in attendance. The Chicago Fire in 2019 paid more than $60 million to leave SeatGeek for Soldier Field.

The Red Stars’ SeatGeek lease will expire at the end of 2025. New ownership helmed by Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts has made it clear that relocating the franchise to a stadium inside the city limits is a driving goal for the organization.

Riot Fest — which will be headlined by Beck, Public Enemy, the Marley Brothers and Fall Out Boy — had been a source of contention for residents in North Lawndale since its relocation to Douglass Park in 2015, and before that with locals in Humboldt Park since 2012.