WNBA All-Star 2026: How to Plan a Chicago Trip Around It
The league’s biggest weekend lands at the United Center on Saturday, July 25 — right in the middle of the hottest stretch the WNBA has ever had. Here’s whether it’s worth the trip, when to book, where to stay, and how to build a Chicago weekend around it.
The quick verdict
If you follow the W at all — or you just want a high-energy summer weekend in one of the best cities in the country for it — this is an easy yes. The All-Star Game is the anchor: Saturday night, primetime, at the United Center. But the reason to make a trip of it rather than just buy a ticket is the rest of the weekend around it: a Friday-night skills showcase, a multi-day fan festival, and a city that’s at its absolute best in late July.
There’s also a timing reason this particular year is worth catching. 2026 is the WNBA’s 30th season, the league just expanded with two new teams, and interest is at an all-time high. All-Star is where all of that energy lands in one building for a weekend. And one practical bonus: it falls the weekend before Lollapalooza — so unlike the festival crush the following week, Chicago hotels over All-Star weekend are still reachable. Rates climb as late July fills up, though, so the move is to book early.
What’s actually happening
It’s a weekend, not a single game, spread across two parts of the city:
- Friday, July 24 — Skills Challenge + 3-Point Contest, at Wintrust Arena in the South Loop (the Chicago Sky’s home court). This is the loose, fun night — stars up close in a smaller building, usually for a fraction of the game’s ticket price.
- Saturday, July 25 — the All-Star Game, at the United Center, tipping off at 8:30 p.m. ET and televised nationally on ABC. This is the marquee event and the hardest ticket.
- WNBA Live — the league’s fan festival at McCormick Place across the weekend: player appearances, performances, and the WNBA’s crossover with fashion, music, and culture. (Confirm hours and entry details closer to the date.)
- Community events around the city round out the weekend.
The whole thing is branded around the league’s 30th-anniversary season, and it’s the second time Chicago has hosted (the last was 2022).
Tickets — what to know
Game tickets are sold through Ticketmaster. Given where the league’s popularity is right now, treat this like a hot ticket and move early rather than waiting for the schedule to fill in.
A few ways in, depending on budget:
- The game (Saturday) — the centerpiece, and the priciest. Lower-bowl sideline seats are the splurge; upper levels are the value play and still get you the full primetime atmosphere.
- Friday’s Skills + 3-Point night — a separate, cheaper ticket at Wintrust, and a genuinely good way to see the league’s stars without the All-Star Game price tag.
- Official hospitality packages exist if you want premium seats bundled with pregame hospitality and meet-the-legends access — a splurge for a specific kind of traveler, not the default way in.
Book the room when you book the tickets. Chicago hotel rates start climbing into the end of July as the city fills up ahead of Lollapalooza the following weekend, so the earlier you lock both, the better.
Where to stay
There are barely any hotels right at the United Center — it sits in a mostly residential and medical stretch of the Near West Side — so the move is to stay east and ride in. Three clusters, depending on what you want:
- West Loop / Fulton Market — the closest neighborhood worth basing in (roughly 1.5–2 miles east of the arena) and the best dining strip in the city. Short ride to the game, walkable to great restaurants. Best pick if the game is your priority and you like to eat well.
- The Loop / downtown — the most hotel options and the best transit access, which matters here because it puts you a manageable distance from both the United Center (Saturday) and Wintrust/McCormick Place (Friday), plus the lakefront attractions. The best all-rounder.
- River North / Magnificent Mile — the nightlife-and-shopping base, a little farther from the arena but the most fun if you’re treating this as a full city weekend.
Getting there and around
Flying in: O’Hare (ORD) is about 18 miles northwest, with the Blue Line train running straight downtown in roughly 45 minutes for a few dollars. Midway (MDW) is about 10 miles southwest — the Orange Line drops you in the Loop in around 25 minutes, and it’s a touch closer to the west side.
Getting to the United Center: the one quirk to plan around — the arena isn’t on the ‘L’. The nearest train is the Ashland stop (Green and Pink lines), about a 10–15 minute walk. On event nights the #19 United Center Express bus runs from downtown, and the #20 Madison bus runs all day. Rideshare is easy going in but surges hard right after the final buzzer, so either build in a wait or walk a few blocks out before you call one.
Friday vs. Saturday: the two nights are on opposite sides of downtown — Wintrust Arena and McCormick Place sit in the South Loop, the United Center on the Near West Side — so a central downtown base keeps both commutes short.
Make a weekend of it
Late July is Chicago showing off: long days, a lake breeze, highs in the mid-80s. Between events, the short list is genuinely great — Millennium Park (and the Bean) with the Art Institute right next door, an architecture river cruise (the city’s signature thing to do), the lakefront and Navy Pier, and the food. Deep dish and Italian beef are the clichés, but the West Loop near the arena is one of the best restaurant neighborhoods in America if you want to eat seriously.
One scheduling note worth knowing: All-Star weekend is the weekend right before Lollapalooza (July 30–August 2 in Grant Park). They don’t overlap — which is good news for hotel rates over All-Star weekend — but if you’ve got a week and the stamina, you could stack a basketball weekend into a music festival without leaving town.
So — worth it?
Yes, if you’re into the W or just want a loud, fun summer weekend in a city built for it. The game is the anchor, and the fan festival and Friday night turn it into a real destination rather than a one-night stop. The only thing standing between you and a good trip is booking before the late-July demand climbs.