Wintrust Arena — Attraction in Chicago

I attended my first WNBA game at the Wintrust Arena on June 27, 2024 when Chennedy, Angel, and the gang took on the Las Vegas Aces. (We lost but Chennedy Carter went crazy the next time they played them in Vegas and we won!) Anyway, the arena is new and beautiful. I attended with my daughters and niece and we had a blast! The arena was a total vibe from the moment we arrived. I didn’t get one of the give aways but they were passing out bucket hats that said Chicago Sky. ( I soon came to regret that decision as my jealousy mounted at all the fans who took the time to go and get one before they ran out.) We found our seats then went and got pizza and churros- they had cinnamon and vanilla. I got popcorn. Then I went to the adult beverage stand and got a Modelo beer and a shot of tequila. The game was so exciting and chock full of fun activities between the quarters of play. Even the fans were so cool. We had a blast and you will too. Tickets weren’t cheap. I got 2 for $112 and 2 for $145. I purchased through the Ticketmaster website. (Y’all, I just got a letter that Ticketmaster had a data breech but I’ll save that for my Ticketmaster review. 😒)You’ll see from the pics that we were pretty high up. I was a little nervous about parking but I made sure we left out early so we would have enough time to find parking. A gentlemen not 3 blocks from the arena was waving cars in for parking. I felt safe that he wasn’t scamming me because lots of other people were parking, getting out of their cars and getting tickets as we paid the man. He and his assistant were very busy! I forgot what I paid but it was between $10 and $20 for parking. Then we walked approximately 3 blocks back to the arena. It was a short walk. I really enjoyed the experience. You are going to love the energy. You are going to love the people. You are going to love the atmosphere. You’re going to love the electric energy even if you are not a b ball fan. See you at the next game and Welcome to...

Monterey Staff and Chicago Sky Staff are terrible. Had to throw away my wife's purse because it was too big to go through security. Asked for the supervisor and apologized but told her it was our first game there, and we were not aware that a fanny pack size purse was not allowed. Monterey supervisor did not care and told us we needed to take it back to our vehicle or take it to a locker that was nowhere near the ticket entrance. I explained that we did not have access to our vehicle and she did not care. Upon disposing of my wife's purse in the garbage and entering the arena, I noticed that there are larger purses than my wife's inside that other fans had brought in. I also noticed on the jumbotron that the fans sitting courtside had multiple oversized purses. I then found a Chicago Sky Staff Andy, the ticket sales manager, and he said that it was Monterey Security discretion on what was allowed and that he could not do anything about it. I then told him that I felt we were being singled out, and he said he didn't believe that was the case and there was again nothing he could do. So unless you are a courtside fan or don't look "suspicious," don't worry about the bag policies. For a franchise that is supposed to promote women sports they sure do make it hell for women to bring in a purse and it's not even about safety or security because courtside fans can bring whatever they want. Will never attend another game again. The worst thing about the whole situation was my daughter having to witness that rules don't apply to everybody, especially if...

Will NOT be going back to this arena unless they improve on Parking, Crowd management, organization, etc... It was my first time going to this venue to see the Comedy Laugh Fest and yet there was nothing funny about the way this place was organized. First off, I arrived 45 minutes early just to still have to drive around for another hour and a half just to find street parking and catch an Uber to the venue. I was actually in the parking garage getting ready to park when one of the staff came out and started directing me and the hundreds of other cars behind me out of the garage without being able to tell or direct us where additional parking would be. Then finally I arrived at the venue just to see there’s another line to check your purse. But the WORST part was leaving the venue to retrieve your purse. There was absolutely ZERO organization to this chaos. People were literally getting smashed at the small entrance to get your purse. There was no set up for lines or designated area to pick up or leave out the area. Then when I finally got to the area to get my purse the officer couldn’t even find it!!!! It took about 20 minutes before I Found it and had to direct her to get it for me. It wasn’t even in a secure area. It was on a table away from the rest of the purses where anyone could’ve snatched it.... Oh and let’s not forget this was all outdoors in the pouring rain. We were treated like animals at the venue. Sucks that this is my first and last...