Chicago Sky

Location

Chicago, Illinois, USA, United States

Capacity

10,387

Opened

2017

Time zone

UTC -06:00 Central Standard Time (CST)

Wintrust Arena at McCormick Square, previously referred to as DePaul Arena or McCormick Place Events Center, is a 10,387-seat sports venue in Chicago's Near South Side community area that opened in 2017. It is the current home court for the men's and women's basketball teams of DePaul University and serves as an events center for McCormick Place. It also is the home of the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The arena was announced in May 2013, with construction planned to begin in 2014, and use expected to begin with the 2016–17 season. The start of construction was delayed to November 2015, with completion delayed until the 2017–18 season. Although DePaul had been seeking a new home arena — it used Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont starting 1980 — it rejected a November 2012 ten-year offer to play rent free at the United Center. Instead, DePaul planned to use Allstate Arena on a recurring one-year basis until it had a new home. On November 16, 2016, DePaul and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA or "McPier") announced that the new event center at McCormick Square would be called Wintrust Arena. The announcement came after the signing of a letter of intent that contemplated a definitive 15-year sponsorship agreement between DePaul and Wintrust.