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When Was Guaranteed Rate Field Built? The White Sox Ballpark's Whole Story

August 24, 2026 · 4 min read

Guaranteed Rate Field

If you've ever driven past 35th Street on the South Side, you've seen it — the home of the Chicago White Sox. But most folks don't know it's had four different names, opened with an ugly 16-0 loss, and sits right across the street from where the original Comiskey Park stood for 80 years. Here's the whole story on when it was built, what it's been called, and why it still matters to Sox fans.

When was Guaranteed Rate Field built?

he ballpark opened April 18, 1991, right across 35th Street from the old Comiskey Park. Ground broke back in May 1989 with the mayor and the governor on hand. It cost around $137 million and replaced a stadium that had stood since 1910. Opening day didn't go great for the Sox, though — they got shut out by the Tigers 16-0. Welcome to the new place, fellas.

Why does Guaranteed Rate Field keep changing its name?

his is where it gets confusing. It opened as Comiskey Park, became U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, then Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016. Then in 2025 they dropped the "Guaranteed" and now it's just Rate Field. Four names in about 30 years. Same ballpark, same South Side, just different signs out front every decade or so.

What's Guaranteed Rate Field famous for?

he 2005 World Series. The Sox won it all that year and the first two games were played right here — the first World Series games in Chicago since 1959. The park's also known for its old exploding scoreboard, a nod to a Bill Veeck trick from the original Comiskey. Holds a little under 41,000 folks.

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