Northwestern invests $800 million to set up Ryan Field with seating capacity of 35000 fans by 2026: REPORTS

The college football world continues to look for ways to generate excitement and the Northwestern Wildcats made news as they announced they have broken ground on building a brand new football stadium. The stadium is going to cost $800 million and be privately funded while keeping the name of Ryan Field.

The stadium will officially be open for the 2026 college football season. The seating capacity is set to be 35,000 meaning they are in a great position to continue generating buzz around the program as things continue.

The joint venture featuring Walsh Construction and Turner Construction is building the stadium and will be surrounded by public green spaces as well as a community park. This is a step in the right direction as things continue to look good for Northwestern athletics.

Where will the Northwestern Wildcats play football until 2026?

The Northwestern Wildcats find themselves in an unusual situation as the demolition of Ryan Field has begun. The university aims to construct a more modernized facility, but as mentioned, the project won't be completed until the 2026 college football season. This raised questions about where the Wildcats will host their home games in the interim.

However, the answer is already been announced. The program will be playing its home football games on campus at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, the university's soccer and lacrosse stadium, as it will be enlarged to encompass the necessities for college football during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

However, that is not the only place that the Northwestern Wildcats will call home as they will be heading to a different historical venue. The team will be hosting at least two of their home games inside the legendary Wrigley Field before Ryan Field is officially rebuilt.

The two games currently on the docket for Wrigleyville are the November 16 game against the Ohio State Buckeyes and the November 30 game against the Illinois Fighting Illini. No other home games have been announced for Wrigley Field for the Wildcats at this time.