MLS officials next week will announce that Soldier Field, the former home of the Fire, will "host the league's All-Star Game in early August," according to sources cited by Danny Ecker of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. The sources said that MLS also is "expected to lay out various free fan events downtown slated for the days leading up to the game." It will be the "first time in more than a decade that the league will hold the event in the Chicago area." The '06 MLS ASG between the MLS and EPL club Chelsea was "played in Bridgeview at then-new Toyota Park." City records show that the city and MLS were in talks "as early as last summer" about hosting the '17 event, with MLS reps "visiting prospective sites for All-Star week festivities." The All-Star week will "add to a string of high-profile sporting events in the city this year, including the NCAA Frozen Four in April and the NHL Draft in June, both at the United Center." Those "come on the heels of the city hosting the NFL Draft in back-to-back years" and a '16 America's Cup World Series race (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 1/26).
