Where Will Northwestern Play Home Games During Ryan Field Rebuild?

EVANSTON, IL — With the demolition of their home stadium in Evanston under way, Northwestern University officials now have to figure out where to play their lucrative home football games for the upcoming season — one of which could take place nearly 200 miles away in the heart of their opponents turf.

Northwestern representatives have not publicly announced the location of any games as of Thursday, but Athletic Director Derrick Gragg last week reportedly told alumni that one of the seven games would be held at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin and two others are said to be planned for Bridgeview and Chicago.

Gragg, who revealed the news during a fundraiser in New York, did not disclose which of the Wildcats' seven "home" games would be played at the historic home of the Green Bay Packers, according to WSAU-AM in Wausau, Wisconsin.

In the Big Ten Conference, Northwestern is scheduled to host Indiana on Oct. 5, Wisconsin on Oct. 19, Ohio State on Nov. 16 and Illinois on Nov. 30.

A "source close to the scheduling process" told WildcatReport that there are two available venues for the Oct. 19 game against the Wisconsin Badgers: 81,000-seat Lambeau Field or 20,000-seat SeatGeek Stadium.

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The Ohio State game will be held at Wrigley Field and the Indiana game will be held at SeatGeek, according to the college sports news site, while the season opener against Miami University of Ohio could get pushed back a day to Sept. 1 to allow it to be played at Soldier Field.

One University of Wisconsin officials told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was unaware of the move to Lambeau, another did not respond and a representative of the Packers organization, which is led by a former Northwestern athletic director, told the paper there was "no announcement on our end."

The $800 million rebuild of Ryan Field is scheduled to be complete for the 2026 season. A lawsuit is pending over the Evanston City Council's decision to rezone the area to allow for public-facing concerts in the stadium. The village board of neighboring Wilmette last week decided against filing suit over the zoning change as it allowed a 90-day deadline for challenges to pass.