Northwestern home games

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Yikes, with all the possible stadiums around Chicago (Wrigley, Soldier Field, SeatGeek Stadium, US Cellular) they go with the practice field.

That feels like a failure on the part of the athletic department to secure a decent deal given numerous opportunities. No market I'm aware of has so many different football-capable stadiums with no college tenant than Chicago. It's not like a small college town school trying to find an alternate site.
 

mngolf said:
Said on the radio this morning that they will play next 2 seasons on their practice field. And have some temp structure put around it. That's embarrassing.
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Why? Might be a great setup for two seasons. No more embarrassing than not being able to fill a 50K stadium with your own fans when your rivals come in.
 

fmlizard said:
Yikes, with all the possible stadiums around Chicago (Wrigley, Soldier Field, SeatGeek Stadium, US Cellular) they go with the practice field.

That feels like a failure on the part of the athletic department to secure a decent deal given numerous opportunities. No market I'm aware of has so many different football-capable stadiums with no college tenant than Chicago. It's not like a small college town school trying to find an alternate site.
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From what I've seen on tv, it's right on the lake with no structure at all around it. So all temporary stands? No lights, parking, concessions?
 



mngolf said:
From what I've seen on tv, it's right on the lake with no structure at all around it. So all temporary stands? No lights, parking, concessions?
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Time for Northwestern to adopt the single wing. It's going to be windy AF out there. September/October are the only months in Chicago where there's a surf scene up around Evanston. Seriously.

They spent over a decade branding as "Chicago's Big Ten Team" and they couldn't cut a deal with one of the big pro stadiums like Soldier Field?
 

If they lose the wrongful termination lawsuit to Fitzgerald, they'll be lucky if they can afford temporary bleachers. might be like a HS game with the crowds roaming up and down the sidelines, held back by a rope, while little kids play their own touch football games behind the end zones.

actually, according to one article I found, the temporary facility is supposed to seat up to 35,000 - which is more than most NW games typically draw.

TV will be a factor, but if MIAC teams can set up cameras for a live-stream at Augsburg or Gustavus, then the networks can figure out how to televise a game from a temporary stadium.
 

fmlizard said:
Time for Northwestern to adopt the single wing. It's going to be windy AF out there. September/October are the only months in Chicago where there's a surf scene up around Evanston. Seriously.

They spent over a decade branding as "Chicago's Big Ten Team" and they couldn't cut a deal with one of the big pro stadiums like Soldier Field?
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Even playing at Wrigley would be better than this plan.
 



howeda7 said:
Even playing at Wrigley would be better than this plan.
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I don't know. That is a bad setup, no matter how much they try to make it like it isn't. I'd imagine US Cellular is less than ideal as well, especially since it's a ways from NW. I'd imagine they end up with at least a couple games at Soldier Field, article says they're still working on things.
 

From what I've read yesterday, NU said "most home games" will be played at the temporary facility, meaning they couldn't get clearance from the Cubs to play at Wrigley until the baseball season is over (which has been the case since the Cats have played a handful of games there over the last decade), but will likely hold 1-2 of their bigger games (like Ohio State) there in November. Likewise, the turf at Solider Field is so bad, I'm sure the Bears vetoed having another football team playing there and chewing up the field. And SeatGeek is so far away from campus that it was a non-starter.

But really, as I've said in other threads, it stuns me that they moved ahead with demolition of Ryan Field without having any plan in place for where they were going to play. Incredibly short-sighted.
 


i believe NW are thinking something like the 16h hole at the phoenix open. iirc about 20,000 seats
 



GoDucks349 said:
Seems like Northern Illinois isn't too far from Northwestern, I think they seat around 25,000. That seems like an ideal temp spot for NW if they could work out a deal.
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NIU is 75 mi from Northwestern and they're complaining about driving to the other side of Chicago for home games. I'm not sure NIU would agree to it regardless.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
If they lose the wrongful termination lawsuit to Fitzgerald, they'll be lucky if they can afford temporary bleachers.
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Yes, with their $16B endowment, I'm sure finding the cash will be difficult.

$100M is a rounding error for them.

Imagine that you have $160,000 in an investment account, and you have to withdraw $1,000 to buy a new set of tires. That's the equivalent of what the Fitzgerald lawsuit is - virtually meaningless to them financially.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Yes, with their $16B endowment, I'm sure finding the cash will be difficult.

$100M is a rounding error for them.

Imagine that you have $160,000 in an investment account, and you have to withdraw $1,000 to buy a new set of tires. That's the equivalent of what the Fitzgerald lawsuit is - virtually meaningless to them financially.
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They’re not in court because of a “rounding error “.
 





I would think SeatGeek Stadium would have been viable. Seats around 20k. Maybe they couldn't make it work with the existing tenants though.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Yes, with their $16B endowment, I'm sure finding the cash will be difficult.

$100M is a rounding error for them.

Imagine that you have $160,000 in an investment account, and you have to withdraw $1,000 to buy a new set of tires. That's the equivalent of what the Fitzgerald lawsuit is - virtually meaningless to them financially.
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According to this writer only a small portion of the endowment holdings are unrestricted and yearly payouts as a whole are limited to 5-6%, with unrestricted holdings typically used for scholarships, faculty support. It appears a large majority of their holdings are locked up in illiquid investments (ie private equity) with their smoke and mirrors projected returns. Could be…problematic for actual future income. I doubt the students and faculty at Northwestern will appreciate a potential chunk of endowment income going towards a legal fiasco and multiple outside investigations (pending legal wrangling).



dailynorthwestern.com

What is an endowment, anyway? And how can it be spent?

At its founding in 1851, Northwestern’s Charter created a corporation and a Board of Trustees authorized to “acquire, hold and convey property” so that Trustees, guided by prudence and a desire to bolster the University’s educational capacity, can “place out at interest, or otherwise depose of...
dailynorthwestern.com
 

1983 said:
Why? Might be a great setup for two seasons. No more embarrassing than not being able to fill a 50K stadium with your own fans when your rivals come in.
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We draw way better than NW even against our worst opponents...and our AD for as bad as it is would have a better plan in place than playing on a practice field with temp bleachers.
 




Maybe they just play road games till the new stadium is usable. Give them a home team cut of the money and overall attendance would probably be higher than holding games at some stadium with little room for fans.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
They’re not in court because of a “rounding error “.
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Yes, they are. Of course, they would prefer not to pay it, and fighting it will be cheaper than just accepting it, so they are in court. But even if forced to pay a "huge" settlement, it is a literal drop in the bucket. Even if they pay $100M, they will have recouped that loss strictly from investment income in 2-3 months. It is quite literally meaningless to them.

The median household income in the U.S. is $74,580. Northwestern paying a $100M settlement is the equivalent of the median U.S. household writing a check for $466. It's a car payment for Northwestern.
 
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dpodoll68 said:
Yes, they are. Of course, they would prefer not to pay it, and fighting it will be cheaper than just accepting it, so they are in court. But even if forced to pay a "huge" settlement, it is a literal drop in the bucket. Even if they pay $100M, they will have recouped that loss strictly from investment income in 2-3 months. It is quite literally meaningless to them.

The median household income in the U.S. is $74,580. Northwestern paying a $100M is the equivalent of the median U.S. household writing a check for $466. It's a car payment for Northwestern.
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I think your understanding of how endowments work and ... this elementary math is just not relevant to real life.

It's not a rounding error to anyone ...
 

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