Northwestern plans to tear down Ryan Field, build an $800M replacement

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Looks nice; I think even that small though, it will run north of $800 million, just guessing with Chicago rates & such.

I know they don't want to go too big, but I think 35K may be a little small, even considering their attendance. Go to 40K.
 

The Gophers found out how difficult it was to put a new stadium in an area that was all ready well developed. Northwestern has their own money to do it but also some very wealthy neighbors.

A $6.1 billion fundraising drive completed last year ensures developing the 35,000-seat stadium won’t require taxpayer financing, hurt the university’s research efforts or come at the expense of students, faculty and staff, according to school officials.

“I have no doubt that the privately funded stadium will be a gamechanger for our football program, athletics department and the community, and will be in line with our other excellent facilities including Welsh-Ryan Arena (Edit: renovated and upgraded as part of a $110 million project completed in late 2018) and Ryan Fieldhouse,” said Dr. Derrick Gragg, vice president for athletics and recreation.

The design for a new Ryan Field was shaped by feedback received over the past year from Evanston community members during meetings organized by 7th Ward Councilmember Eleanor Revelle. Many residents wanted to see less traffic and noise on game days, while others suggested using the new facility year-round for concerts and other community events.

University officials said that’s one reason they unveiled a 35,000-seat proposal, 12,000 fewer than the current Ryan Field, which would be demolished after the 2023 football season. They
also plan to include a canopy over the new stadium to reduce noise and light pollution in the surrounding neighborhood during games.

In addition, if approved, the new Ryan Field would include plazas for tailgating fans, a community park as well as public green spaces modeled after Maggie Daley Park in Chicago. The facility also would replace the existing stadium’s benches with comfortable seats and include high-tech scoreboards and concession stands supplied by local restaurants..

www.chicagotribune.com

Northwestern unveils design for new, smaller football stadium — a replacement for the 97-year-old Ryan Field

Northwestern University released renderings Wednesday of the proposed design for a new football stadium, a replacement for Ryan Field.
www.chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com
 




Panthadad2 said:
It's hard to believe Williams used to hold 18,000+. The whole seating arrangement must have been like the student section; benches with narrow-ass painted spots that were more of a suggestion than reality.
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I attended school and went to games there in the late 70's early 80's, and trust me, my ass was much narrower then!
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Kinda weird considering attendance….
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I think it makes perfect sense. Instead of lots of empty seats, make the stadium smaller so it fills up and then use the extra space to sell luxury seats/boxes to people who want to spend that kind of money.

Personally, I'm not loaded, but I'd much rather drop $1000 to watch a game from a luxury box where I'm inside and have access to a bathroom and food right next to me, versus sitting in the stands for any price, even free.
 

GopherTheJugular said:
I think it makes perfect sense. Instead of lots of empty seats, make the stadium smaller so it fills up and then use the extra space to sell luxury seats/boxes to people who want to spend that kind of money.

Personally, I'm not loaded, but I'd much rather drop $1000 to watch a game from a luxury box where I'm inside and have access to a bathroom and food right next to me, versus sitting in the stands for any price, even free.
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It's kinda weird in terms of cost per seat ... and the fact that they just aren't consistently amazing... at all. (dangerous sure).

It just seems like tiny town USA building a conference center for a ton of money thinking everyone will show up long term.

Not saying they shouldn't but 800M ...
 

Iceland12 said:
Many residents wanted to see less traffic and noise on game days....

They also plan to include a canopy over the new stadium to reduce noise and light pollution in the surrounding neighborhood during games.
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Greaaaaaat selling point to a recruit. "Yeah, the people around here can't stand the noise from our football games. But you should come play here."

Yeesh. I thought people going to games and complaining about people standing was bad. But to complain about stadium noise 7 times per year....
 



GopherTheJugular said:
Greaaaaaat selling point to a recruit. "Yeah, the people around here can't stand the noise from our football games. But you should come play here."

Yeesh. I thought people going to games and complaining about people standing was bad. But to complain about stadium noise 7 times per year....
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It's such a weird thing to me.

They close a road very close to my house once in a while for events. I think it's great, it's good stuff happening in the community. I don't do those things but it's fine by me / minor inconvenience for someone else having fun .... seems like it would almost be spirited to bitch about it.
 

GopherTheJugular said:
Greaaaaaat selling point to a recruit. "Yeah, the people around here can't stand the noise from our football games. But you should come play here."

Yeesh. I thought people going to games and complaining about people standing was bad. But to complain about stadium noise 7 times per year....
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You'd be a very bad recruiter. ;)
 

They'll play hell getting the City of Evanston to approve it.

As for a concert site, it'll be a nice niche in Chicagoland venues between Pritzker Pavillion and the big amphitheater out in Tinley Park.
 




GopherRock said:
They'll play hell getting the City of Evanston to approve it.

As for a concert site, it'll be a nice niche in Chicagoland venues between Pritzker Pavillion and the big amphitheater out in Tinley Park.
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Concert venue thing is kinda interesting.

Now this was years ago but I talked to a guy who put on big shows at mid sized venues. He said in the 80s they would PAY to do a show at a venue, there just weren't many. By the time the late 90s rolled around venues PAID THEM, because there were so many venues competing just to keep up with operating costs / get any dime they could and they could visit the same region... but now there was competition between two or more venues.

I duno if that pays ...
 

MNVCGUY said:
Looks pretty cool. I wonder if we will see more stadium upgrades at the college level trend more towards less capacity and more bells and whistles.
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Michigan has already done it. I expect it will continue.
 

GopherTheJugular said:
Greaaaaaat selling point to a recruit. "Yeah, the people around here can't stand the noise from our football games. But you should come play here."

Yeesh. I thought people going to games and complaining about people standing was bad. But to complain about stadium noise 7 times per year....
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hate to break it to you, neighbors of Gopher stadium aren't awlays too thrilled with the noise
 

GopherTheJugular said:
Greaaaaaat selling point to a recruit. "Yeah, the people around here can't stand the noise from our football games. But you should come play here."

Yeesh. I thought people going to games and complaining about people standing was bad. But to complain about stadium noise 7 times per year....
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Pretty sure this was an issue when TCF first opened. Lots of complaining from the neighborhoods about noise. It'll work itself out.
 

salzie said:
hate to break it to you, neighbors of Gopher stadium aren't awlays too thrilled with the noise
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Little harder to make that argument as most of them are pretty far from the stadium, the impact is pretty limited.

Dunno about Northwestern in terms of how close the homes are.
 


gopheraddict said:
It would help if they would turn down the stadium PA volume, which is ridiculously and unnecessarily loud.
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I think it is pretty spot on / perfect.

Having said that when they had to go to the production B team (when the vikings also played at the same time) a few times ... it was too loud / off. But that is super rare... but it was noticable.
 


GopherJack said:
I attended school and went to games there in the late 70's early 80's, and trust me, my ass was much narrower then!
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It's not just that people are fatter now (they are, myself included). I swear people are taller as well. We went to JJ Hill days in Wayzata a few weeks ago. I'm 6' and my wife is 5'9" - we aren't short people, but we both remarked how many really tall people there seemed to be.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Looks really nice, and it's the right size for them. 35k sold out is better than averaging 40k in a 50-60k stadium.

If you've ever been to Allianz for the loons, that's "only" what like 19k and it still feels like a big time atmosphere.
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Allianz is about the same size as Xcel or Target Center in terms of seating capacity, but it feels so much larger. Good analogy.
 

PMWinSTP said:
They could do a week of concerts in the Summer! I would definitely think about going.
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If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd protest Pearl Jam playing. There are few bands I detest more than Pearl Jam.

One of my best friends lives in Evanston. We were supposed to go to the game last year, but my son tested positive for Covid the night before and obviously couldn't fly. I hope I can get there next year to see the place before it gets torn down.
 

I thought the BIG said minimum 45K once.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Little harder to make that argument as most of them are pretty far from the stadium, the impact is pretty limited.

Dunno about Northwestern in terms of how close the homes are.
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Homes are literally 100 yards away. Current stadium that is. It's in the middle of a neighborhood. I enjoy going there, we'll see about the new place.
 

The conference makes it’s money by selling TV rights any way. Perhaps sales of tickets, concessions and parking revenue aren’t measuring up to profits and revenue sharing from selling tv rights…I think we all know that.

Beautiful and comfortable 50,000 or even 35,000 seat television production studios can provide very nice visual and sound effects for a televised 3 hour football production. In a major city like Chicago making tickets scarce and the venue a luxury club setting might be a trend setting “tough ticket to find” event that people might covet.
 

disco said:
If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd protest Pearl Jam playing. There are few bands I detest more than Pearl Jam.

One of my best friends lives in Evanston. We were supposed to go to the game last year, but my son tested positive for Covid the night before and obviously couldn't fly. I hope I can get there next year to see the place before it gets torn down.
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Why the hate for Pearl Jam?
 

disco said:
If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd protest Pearl Jam playing. There are few bands I detest more than Pearl Jam.

One of my best friends lives in Evanston. We were supposed to go to the game last year, but my son tested positive for Covid the night before and obviously couldn't fly. I hope I can get there next year to see the place before it gets torn down.
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I'm with you. Can't stand Pearl Jam.
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