The Northwestern Wildcats made an announcement on the future of their football program on Wednesday.
In November 2023, the city of Evanston approved the school’s plans to rebuild Ryan Field, where the football team has played since 1926. Northwestern plans to build a new stadium, with a rezoning ordinance allowing six concerts a year as well as the football games.
The demolition and construction got underway in March, and it was unclear where the team would play football until the new stadium was built.
On Wednesday, we got our answer. Northwestern announced that the football team would move to the Lanny and Sharon Martin facility on campus, where a temporary field will be constructed.
The press release notes that “the majority of home football games” will be played at the facility, but Northwestern is also in talks with “other Chicago-area venues” to potentially host a game. The Wildcats have played at Wrigley Field three times since 2010, most recently falling 10-7 to the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 4, 2023, at the Friendly Confines.
The soccer and lacrosse teams will also both spend the next two seasons at the temporary facility before moving back into the new stadium with the football team in 2026.
The facility sits directly on Lake Michigan which should make for some beautiful sights and temperatures in the early part of the football season, and absolutely dreadful Saturday afternoons as the calendar turns to the later months.
