Unfortunately, the United Center isn’t terribly well served by public transportation. The stadium doesn’t have a designated and specific train station so if you are planning to come via Metro, you should take the CTA Blue Line to the Illinois Medical District Stop, from which the stadium is just a couple blocks North. You can also take either the Green or Pink line to the Ashland/Lake Station and walk from there.
It doesn’t get any easier when it comes to buses either – your only options are the numbers #9 Ashland, #19 United Center Express, #20 Madison, #50 Damen or #126 Jackson that will get you within a few blocks of the arena itself.
Luckily a lot of bars and restaurants have picked up on this lack of public transportation and so will operate a fantastic free shuttle service to the United Center from the bar! They will even schedule meet up points after the game, so if you want you can head on back to your bar stool and celebrate a victory or commiserate other fans after a defeat! Bars like the Park Tavern and The Beer Bistro, also have valet parking – which makes the whole evening a lot less stressful. Simply park at the bar, grab some food or a drink, take the free bus in, enjoy the game, skip the traffic on the way out with the bus back to the bar and drive home from there! Just make sure you have a designated driver!
Unlike a lot of stadiums in the country, there is actually ample parking at the United Center itself. There are 5 official parking lots that surround the arena and a spot here will cost you between $22-24 a spot – make sure to book online, otherwise the price goes up if you try and pay with cash when you get there!
With over 6,000 car parking spots in the official lots, if you get there early you are more than likely to find a space, otherwise you might try the car lots on 1301 W. Madison St. and 1355 W. Fulton St, both of which you can reserve a space online beforehand. That being said, there is also a lot of street parking around the stadium, some of which is actually free! W Maypole Avenue, N and S Hoyne Avenue and spots on W Munroe Street and W Ogden Avenue are hot spots worth checking out.
A great tip would also be to download the ‘ParkChicago’ App, and then if you park at a metred spot, you can top up the meter online without having to leave the game!