The Northwestern Wildcats are suddenly receiving a lot of attention thanks to their temporary waterfront stadium.
Northwestern hosted Miami of Ohio at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium on Saturday, a temporary venue while their usual home, Ryan Field, undergoes an $800 million rebuild. The field is typically used for lacrosse and soccer, but temporary construction made it suitable as a football venue.
The biggest bonus? It sits directly on the shores of Lake Michigan, which made for some truly amazing views.
Beautiful Day for Football 🌞🌊
Wildcat Nation, how we feeling? pic.twitter.com/jQiSQXZieg
— Northwestern Athletics (@NU_Sports) August 31, 2024
Fans are loving the lake life next to Northwestern’s temporary on-campus stadium 🏟️🚤🏊♂️@NUFBFamily pic.twitter.com/wHzQHedxrF
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 31, 2024
Those who were actually in attendance thought the experience was awesome.
if you can catch the northwestern football game on tv today, tell me how it looks on tv.
because in-person it looks like this. and it is a perfect day for football in a stadium on the lake. pic.twitter.com/9xaUCLAFfg
— shakeia (@curlyfro) August 31, 2024
Ok, this is 1000% cooler than it has any right to be. pic.twitter.com/H856aVvxeM
— Tom McGrath (@TCMcG) August 31, 2024
The perfect weather helps, as it’s pretty easy to imagine this being a lot less pleasant on a rainy day in October. For now, though, the school appears to have pulled off an impressive feat.
According to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, the school spent six figures on refurbishing the stadium to make it suitable for football, partly funded by a donation from head coach David Braun. The temporary seating only accommodates about 15,000 fans, making it unsuitable as a long-term venue, but the Wildcats think it will be suitable for the two seasons that Ryan Field is scheduled to be under construction. Northwestern will play five home games at the venue this season before playing its final two home contests at Wrigley Field.
The Wildcats are coming off a surprising 8-5 season, though things might be a lot tougher in the expanded Big Ten in 2024. Still, there is a chance they could build up a bit of a home field advantage in such a small and unique space.
