Northwestern is likely done playing football games at Wrigley Field.
In a statement to Front Office Sports, Northwestern says it will hold its home games at the New Ryan Field, the $862 million stadium by the school’s Evanston campus, once it opens. The stadium is expected to be ready for the start of the 2026 CFB season.
“Upon completion of New Ryan Field, Northwestern University plans to host home football games at the new stadium moving forward,” the statement said.
The timeline means the Wildcats will likely be playing their last two games at Wrigley Field, home of MLB’s Cubs, over the next two Saturdays. Northwestern hosts No. 18 Michigan on Saturday, and then faces Minnesota the following weekend.
In response to a question about Northwestern possibly playing their last football games at Wrigley Field, the Cubs issued the following statement to FOS:
“As a proud, long-standing partner of Northwestern Athletics, we congratulate the University on the soon to be launch of their new stadium and wish them great success.”
A source tells FOS that the opening of the new stadium doesn’t completely close the door on Northwestern playing football games at Wrigley Field. And while New Ryan Field—the most expensive in college football—will be the primary home for Northwestern, it would be hard to totally rule out the Wildcats in Wrigley Field again given the school’s history.
Northwestern played its first game at the ballpark in 1923 because its stadium at the time could only hold 10,000 fans. Wrigley Field was a regular site for football games in its early years, with Chicago colleges DePaul and Loyola hosting games at the ballpark in the 1920s and ‘30s, while the Bears called Wrigley Field home from 1921 until 1970.
In 1926, Northwestern opened Ryan Field, then known as Dyche Stadium, where it’s hosted most of its games since.
Northwestern would return to Wrigley more than 80 years later, playing a one-off game against Illinois when both teams scored in just one endzone because the east side of the field was deemed too close to the right field wall. The 1060 Project, a renovation of Wrigley Field from 2014 to 2019, fixed the issue, allowing Northwestern to host four games since 2021.
Northwestern has also played four baseball games (2014, 2023–2025) and one lacrosse match (2014) at Wrigley Field. It’s unclear whether they will continue to host baseball games at the ballpark, but Pat Ryan Jr., CEO of Ryan Sports Development, the developers of the new stadium, told FOS in July that the school also plans to host Northwestern lacrosse matches at the New Ryan Field.
