After the old Ryan Field was demolished earlier this year, Northwestern University is eyeing something big. According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, the school unveiled a plan on Monday, Nov. 18, for an $850 million project, which will be heavily backed by prominent school donors, the Ryan Family.
Northwestern Releases Plan for New Ryan Field
Northwestern is also contributing some sum but is well below half, according to Sportico. However, the stadium will be fully owned by the university, and none of its revenue will be given back to the Ryan Family.
Per plans, the construction for the 35,000-seat capacity venue will start this week and will come to fruition in 2026. In his tweet, Rittenberg also mentioned that the $850 million project, “largest in CFB history,” will have a new design “focused on enhancing fan experiences and incorporating elements from recent NFL stadium builds.”
Northwestern today released details for the new Ryan Field, an $850 million project that is the largest in CFB history, and could launch a new type of CFB stadium design, focused on enhancing fan experiences and incorporating elements from recent NFL stadium builds. pic.twitter.com/U8v8XuBc8x
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) November 18, 2024
“They’re no different from driving a Model T right now,” Pat Ryan Jr. said in an interview. “So if you’re going to build [a stadium] every 100 years, you have to get it right, and you have to get it right in a way that’s looking forward toward the world you’re moving into.”
Bears Minority Owner Pat Ryan Jr. Discloses Details of Ryan Field
The inspiration behind setting up the new Ryan Field is to give more reasons to attend the school’s college football games. Though the new stadium will have fewer seats as compared to other CFB venues, almost 200,000 square feet of parks and plazas are part of the plans.
According to Ryan, the venue will not solely be used for Northwestern football games but would also be used for concerts, corporate meetings, NCAA championship events, high school games, and other sporting events.
Adding more to about the revenue stream from the new stadium, Ryan referred to the fact that how big companies make major profits from premium customers.
“Our new stadium will be 10% premium prices, and that will generate—not quite as much as United’s—but 40-50% of revenue,” Ryan said. “That allows us to do things that we couldn’t do in the old stadium.
“To give you an example, a seat in the end zone in our old stadium was $50. Well, if you’re a custodian at Evanston High School, you’re not spending $250 to take your family to a college football game … But we can take that 10% and have them generate the revenue that allows us to create a great experience for everybody, and do a subsidized ticket program for the community … In the old stadium we were subsidizing the rich.”
According to Sportico’s report, the new Ryan Field will be near Welsh-Ryan Arena, home to the Wildcats basketball, volleyball, and wrestling teams.