Wintrust Arena

Wintrust Arena is a 10,387-seat Chicago venue at McCormick Square, built as the home floor for DePaul basketball and a flexible concert room. Its defining feature is that dual life: the same bowl serves college and WNBA games, convention programming and ticketed tours, with 22 suites above the seating. For concertgoers, it lands in the useful middle ground between a theater and Chicago’s largest arenas—large enough for major international tours, contained enough to keep the stage in view from a single arena bowl.

A new arena, opened with Dylan

This was a purpose-built arena, developed through a public-private partnership between the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and DePaul University. It opened in 2017 as part of McCormick Square, designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners to work alongside McCormick Place and to give DePaul’s men’s and women’s teams a Chicago home court. The name arrived before opening: Wintrust, DePaul and MPEA announced the arena naming-rights arrangement in November 2016.

Its first concert was a September 25, 2017 private REO Speedwagon event for a True Value convention. The first major public concert followed on October 27, 2017, pairing Bob Dylan with Mavis Staples. That opening bill set a useful precedent for the room’s broad remit: marquee touring artists share the calendar with sports, conventions, comedy, wrestling and other large-format events.

The room on show night

Wintrust books as a multipurpose arena, with concerts alongside sporting events, general sessions, conventions and special events. Its concert record points toward R&B and soul packages, hip-hop, K-pop tours, rock and electronic bills, plus comedy events. Expect a seated arena configuration built around a removable basketball-floor setup, with the main visual distinction being a compact 10,387-seat bowl and 22 suites. Skybridge connections to McCormick Place and the adjacent Marriott Marquis and Hyatt Regency also make it especially practical for visitors already staying on the campus.