In October, the WNBA announced that Chicago would host the 2026 All-Star game. In many ways, it threw everyone for a loop, particularly because Chicago had previously hosted the All-Star game in 2022.
Now, answers are being provided on what led to this decision, per Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports. It turns out, the Chicago Sky were the only WNBA team to bid for the All-Star game.
Furthermore, the league has historically persuaded teams to host the All-Star game, as was the case in Indianapolis this past July.
“We’re excited to do it,” Sky CEO Adam Fox told FOS. “It’s the goal to make Chicago the best place we’ve ever had a WNBA All-Star game. That’s the kind of healthy competition in this game that everyone is interested in.”
In 2024, the Phoenix Mercury won their bid for hosting that year's All-Star game with the help of team president Vince Kozar.
“The initial piece of it was—sort of raise your hand if you’re interested, and then we’ll dive deeper on what your vision for it is, what you would do with it, why you want it, and if you have the infrastructure,” Kozar said.
A significant factor in Mercury's success was its NBA partnership with the Phoenix Suns.
“A ton of props to Chicago for what they’re undertaking,” Kozar said. “If we didn’t have the resources of our entire organization and Player 15 Group, we would not have been able to put on the All-Star game the size and scope of which we did. To do that as an independent team, that’s a massive undertaking, manpower wise.”
The 2026 WNBA All-Star game will be played at the United Center.
The last time Chicago hosted the WNBA All-Star game was in 2022
In July 2022, the WNBA All-Star game was played at Wintrust Arena, home of the Sky. All in all, the end result produced a barage of criticism. Access to the skills competition and other weekend activities were severly limited.
Plus, the enviroment was entierely welcoming. An outdoor concert was cancelled due to security concerns following a string of mass shootings.
At the same time, Chicago was criticized for not capitalizing on the Sky's title the year before and for not marketing the game properly.
