Evanston approves Northwestern's new $800M stadium

Donate To GopherHole


A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
It will be interesting to see if a $800 million football field for a team that doesn’t draw fans and outside football gets used handful of the year makes much sense….
Click to expand...
They should make it a shared stadium with the Chicago Fire (Chicago's MLS soccer team). The Fire currently play home games in Solider Stadium with an attendance of around 15,000, making it seem pretty empty.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
They should make it a shared stadium with the Chicago Fire (Chicago's MLS soccer team). The Fire currently play home games in Solider Stadium with an attendance of around 15,000, making it seem pretty empty.
Click to expand...
I don’t know if the locals would go for that, but it’s not a bad idea.

The thing is MLS teams and fans seem to demand a soccer specific stadiums, they really hate the idea of sharing with the more popular sports it seems.

Also, football and soccer will eat a field alive.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
They should make it a shared stadium with the Chicago Fire (Chicago's MLS soccer team). The Fire currently play home games in Solider Stadium with an attendance of around 15,000, making it seem pretty empty.
Click to expand...
The Fire had their own soccer specific stadium in the suburbs and then left to go back to Soldier Field because the new owner insisted on being in the city.
 


disco said:
The Fire had their own soccer specific stadium in the suburbs and then left to go back to Soldier Field because the new owner insisted on being in the city.
Click to expand...
Weird…. Granted he could see how that might bring fans in maybe…?
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
It will be interesting to see if a $800 million football field for a team that doesn’t draw fans and outside football gets used handful of the year makes much sense….
Click to expand...
Completely privately funded. Six large concerts per year. Not sure how many small events can happen, but I'm sure the private/club space will get a lot of use. CHS ball park is a much smaller venue, but it's club area gets used pretty often. Also doing a holiday event that runs from now to the end of 2023 https://www.glowholiday.com/
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Weird…. Granted he could see how that might bring fans in maybe…?
Click to expand...
I just looked it up (Seatgeek stadium) - it looks like a nice place. And the owners had to pay the city back $65 million to break the lease to go back to a stadium where they aren't the primary tenant and they don't draw any more people. No idea what went on there.
 

disco said:
I just looked it up (Seatgeek stadium) - it looks like a nice place. And the owners had to pay the city back $65 million to break the lease to go back to a stadium where they aren't the primary tenant and they don't draw any more people. No idea what went on there.
Click to expand...
It appears they were attracting fans… until they moved.

Why Chicago Fire plan to pay $60m to move back to an NFL stadium | Chicago Fire | The Guardian

Twenty years on from the opening of the first soccer-specific stadium, should the Fire’s possible move back to an NFL venue prompt MLS to face some home truths?
amp.theguardian.com amp.theguardian.com

Very interesting dynamic.
 



Rival top 10 games​

​

2. Oct. 31, 1936: No. 3 Northwestern 6, No. 1 Minnesota 0​


This is an all-but forgotten classic in Northwestern history that very few people talk about. But they should. It was the biggest showdown in college football that season, No. 1 against No. 3.
The win lifted the Wildcats to No. 1 and helped them win the Big Ten title, the fifth conference championship in the school's history and third in six years. It remains the only time in school history the Wildcats beat the top-ranked team in the nation.
Minnesota came into Evanston as the two-time defending national champions with a 28-game unbeaten streak. Northwestern was 4-0 and was led by College Football All-America Steve Reid. As the highlight video shows, the game is scarcely recognizable, with both teams running into the line again and again out of tight formations.
The Wildcats took advantage of a Minnesota fumble in its own territory, and then a penalty against the Gophers for unnecessary roughness put the ball at the Minnesota 1. On the third try, fullback Steve Toth finally broke through the line for the only score of the game. The extra-point attempt was blocked. The Gophers reached the NU 18-yard line late in the game but came away empty.
Northwestern was named No. 1 in the AP poll the following week. They beat Wisconsin and Michigan the next two weeks, but then lost the season finale to No. 11 Notre Dame, 26-6, in South Bend to drop out of the top spot.
The Wildcats won the Big Ten title but finished seventh in the final poll. Who won the national title? Minnesota, believe it or not, even though the Gophers had an identical 7-1 record, had lost to Northwestern head-to-head and finished second to the Cats in the Big Ten. Go figure. That anti-Northwestern bias goes back a long time.
 

SPEGOPHER said:
I wonder how much the Ryan family has given to NIL. I think I’d settle for $600m renovations w $200m to NIL. Just insane numbers either way.
Click to expand...
No funds from Ryan Family have gone to NIL.
 


disco said:
I just looked it up (Seatgeek stadium) - it looks like a nice place. And the owners had to pay the city back $65 million to break the lease to go back to a stadium where they aren't the primary tenant and they don't draw any more people. No idea what went on there.
Click to expand...
It’s in Bridgeview and a complete pain in the ass to get to. And the amenities were very basic, like a mid-tier minor league baseball park. Who knows, if the Bears do abandon Chicago the Fire could downsize Solider Field to 25,000 and make it a more hospitable home.
 




Impressive. And we rebuilt Memorial Stadium. Seats only 35k, though, but that may be realistic.
 




fmlizard said:
With that stadium and price tag the Bears should play in Evanston. Seriously.

It's going to be a major white elephant unless they have a lot of concerts. And it's not a great event location because it both lacks the convenience of a big suburban venue with huge parking lots and also the transportation connections and nearby activities of a downtown venue.

There's also competition for the relatively small number of big outdoor stadium concerts coming from Soldier Field, Toyota Park (soccer) and Wrigley Field.
Click to expand...
The Bears already play in the smallest stadium in the NFL. Double down on that?

They are building a 75,000 capacity stadium in Arlington Heights and waving goodbye to downtown and the "east side" and the ridiculous Chicago administration.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I don’t know if the locals would go for that, but it’s not a bad idea.

The thing is MLS teams and fans seem to demand a soccer specific stadiums, they really hate the idea of sharing with the more popular sports it seems.

Also, football and soccer will eat a field alive.
Click to expand...
The Fire dumped their soccer specific stadium. It sits vacant.
 

highwayman said:
The Fire dumped their soccer specific stadium. It sits vacant.
Click to expand...
It's not vacant as in abandoned. It's still used for events, minor and women's soccer, and concerts.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Our's even adjusted is half the price.
Click to expand...
Adjusted for inflation but not adjusted for post COVID construction price increases above and beyond inflation, labor (Chicago unions!) demolition of an entire existing stadium which was not needed for TCF. I think TCF was built largely on the old commuter lots I used to use when I took summer term classes (?)
 

highwayman said:
The Bears already play in the smallest stadium in the NFL. Double down on that?

They are building a 75,000 capacity stadium in Arlington Heights and waving goodbye to downtown and the "east side" and the ridiculous Chicago administration.
Click to expand...
Yeah, City of Chicago Parks Dept owns and manages Soldier Field. I guess they are resistant to tearing up beautiful Grant Park and the world-class public museum campus the stadium sits on so that the Bears can follow the national trend of building a "mixed-use development" (lots of retail and restaurants owned by the team)

Daniel Burnham would have rolled over in his grave if he knew the Plan for Chicago that has kept the lakefront almost entirely free of private development for over a century was being sullied so a family of inherited billionaires can profit off of it.

Chicago has told a lot of projects over the years to pound sand if they want to mess with the public lands around the lakefront. George Lucas was one of them.

Chicago's administration is a lot smarter than you think.
 

They will build that SoFi-esque new stadium and development, and I think they should have two teams.

I’d move the Jags there. Makes sense with Indy just down the road.
 

MplsGopher said:
They will build that SoFi-esque new stadium and development, and I think they should have two teams.

I’d move the Jags there. Makes sense with Indy just down the road.
Click to expand...
Even for you, this is an absurd take.
 

Jacksonville FL having an NFL team is like Tulsa having an NFL team. Makes zero sense.

Louisville would be a great geographic fit for that division, but would be furiously blackballed by Colts, Bengals, and Titans.
 



MplsGopher said:
Jacksonville FL having an NFL team is like Tulsa having an NFL team. Makes zero sense.

Louisville would be a great geographic fit for that division, but would be furiously blackballed by Colts, Bengals, and Titans.
Click to expand...
Jacksonville is the number 38 market in the country and has grown 4% since 2020.
Louisville is the number 43 market and has shrunk slightly since 2020.

Buffalo, New Orleans and Green Bay are smaller NFL markets than Jax.

You should probably stop now.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom