Northwestern football fans will have to wait for Big 10 conference play to watch their Wildcats in their new home.
Wednesday, February 4, 2026 4:34AMNorthwestern football fans will have to wait for Big 10 conference play to watch their Wildcats in their new home. The new Ryan Field in Evanston is now slated to open in October, which is not in time for the fall kickoff to the 2026 football season.
The stadium is an $862 million privately funded gift to the university with tens of millions of dollars on top going to the city of Evanston. The Ryan family says this was the schedule they always imagined. Cold and rainy weather through the fall and winter have slowed construction by about five weeks. Still, the 35,000-seat stadium has risen up as a colossus on Central Street in Evanston but is actually smaller and shorter than the century-old facility it is replacing.Pat Ryan Jr. with RyanSports Development says after a lot of community consultation, people are going to love the project. But like all things that represent change, that might take a little while. "Sometimes, when a new project comes and it's different, some people can start to catastrophize things and imagine something worse. And I think, we announce where to do a holiday festival there Christmastime, we're going to do it, Halloween and autumn festival, and I think people really, those things. You know, I think, there's a lot of excitement about the fact that we're going to be a good neighbor. We're going to keep our promises," Ryan said.Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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