Wrigley Field




Northwestern wrapped up their two years at the temporary stadium. Their last two home games are at Wrigley vs Michigan and Minnesota.

I know a bunch of people planning to go. Not sure I'm going to make it.
 




I've done wrigley rooftops like half a dozen times and never been inside. Looks like they are open for the Gopher game. May have to make the trip down for it. Had no clue they were playing Michigan there as well the week before.
 





I’ll be there! Resale prices are still kinda silly, so I’m holding out, I don’t expect them to get to $8 like they frequently would at Ryan Field, but hopefully a reasonable range.
This, our group is waiting to see if prices come down a little for game tickets. Someone we know is getting married that weekend, so it kind of will be late developing on who can go depending on who all is invited to the wedding which has put numbers in flux.
 







I am going. It should be a great time but the weather could be anything. The train is shorter from downtown to Wrigley than to Ryan Field but it is still a distance.
 

I've done wrigley rooftops like half a dozen times and never been inside. Looks like they are open for the Gopher game. May have to make the trip down for it. Had no clue they were playing Michigan there as well the week before.
Wow! Hadn’t thought of this! Good call
 

The Bears played there for 50 seasons. It got old.
I still think it's just wild that teams like the Bears, Giants and Eagles all played in baseball stadiums for decades when there were more football friendly venues available in their respective cities.
 

I still think it's just wild that teams like the Bears, Giants and Eagles all played in baseball stadiums for decades when there were more football friendly venues available in their respective cities.

Actually before the Bears moved to Soldier Field in 1971, it wasn't really that football friendly. It was massive.

Could actually fit two 100 yd football fields on the surface. So while capacity was larger, a good portion of those seats really sucked.

Screenshot_20251022-221125.Chrome.jpg

I would bet Wrigley had nearly as many decent seats. Pre-Super Bowl era there just wasn't that much demand for pro-football to fill a stadium 50,000+.

Eventually they shrunk it. Plus the NFL forced them to play in a stadium with lights.
 

Actually before the Bears moved to Soldier Field in 1971, it wasn't really that football friendly. It was massive.

Could actually fit two 100 yd football fields on the surface. So while capacity was larger, a good portion of those seats really sucked.

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I would bet Wrigley had nearly as many decent seats. Pre-Super Bowl era there just wasn't that much demand for pro-football to fill a stadium 50,000+.

Eventually they shrunk it. Plus the NFL forced them to play in a stadium with lights.
That's super interesting. I didn't realize the surface was that large. But you wouldn't need to center the field. You could put it at one end and put up temporary bleachers (or none) on the other side. It would still make more sense than Wrigley.
 

That's super interesting. I didn't realize the surface was that large. But you wouldn't need to center the field. You could put it at one end and put up temporary bleachers (or none) on the other side. It would still make more sense than Wrigley.

That's basically what they did, but also means that a large percentage were in the end zone, so not great.

Also, for the most part NFL teams pre-1970 didn't really have a demand to fill that large of a venue. Wrigley Field for football could cram in 47,000. That's really all they needed.

Pre 1960s, College was still far more dominant. Then it started to gain traction during that decade until it exploded post NFL-AFL merger, basically our lifetime.

The Vikings got by playing in the Met at 48,000 until 1982. I would guess that they were the last NFL team to have a permanent home under 50K.
 

Even as a road trip warrior- I'm out on this one.

Pretty much had my fill of CFB in baseball ballparks.

Was hoping to get a game at the NW lakefront stadium, but alas. The next Evanston trip will be to check out a game in their new digs, which look spectacular (although that will be 2029 at the earliest)
 

I’m debating it, but I have serious scar tissue and PTSD from the last two Gophers road games I’ve attended: the brutal 4th quarter collapse at Northwestern in 2023, and this year’s no-show at Ohio State. I may need to stay home, for luck’s sake, if nothing else.
Well, I've been to something like 7 Gopher road games and I have NEVER seen a win so it could be worse.
 

I’ll be there! Resale prices are still kinda silly, so I’m holding out. I don’t expect them to get to $8 like they frequently would at Ryan Field, but hopefully a reasonable range.
This, our group is waiting to see if prices come down a little for game tickets.
I’m currently planning on going, but it will depend on ticket prices and if I can convince one of my family members or friends to go with me haha
*edited to sound less like a loser
We'll be there, monitoring the ticket prices.
I think I posted about my experience there last year, but I attended the Illinois game at Wrigley. Might be different because it was Thanksgiving weekend with two local teams, but I monitored the ticket prices for months and they never really came down much. Not even with Northwestern having a lousy year and temps in the high teens forecasted. There were empty seats during the game, but very little inventory on the ticket apps and frustratingly little effort to price them to sell on the secondary market. The guy sitting in front of me told me he ate four extra tickets without even trying to sell them.
 

Well, I've been to something like 7 Gopher road games and I have NEVER seen a win so it could be worse.
Maybe the solution is for the two of us to just meet at Murphy’s and drink beer together. We’d be Wrigley adjacent without bringing our bad karma into the stadium.
 


I think I posted about my experience there last year, but I attended the Illinois game at Wrigley. Might be different because it was Thanksgiving weekend with two local teams, but I monitored the ticket prices for months and they never really came down much. Not even with Northwestern having a lousy year and temps in the high teens forecasted. There were empty seats during the game, but very little inventory on the ticket apps and frustratingly little effort to price them to sell on the secondary market. The guy sitting in front of me told me he ate four extra tickets without even trying to sell them.
Thanks, I remember seeing that post but had forgotten the outcome. Super helpful. I’m definitely not paying $100+ to watch a game on a cold November day in a baseball stadium I’ve been to multiple times for the sport it was intended to hold. I’d be driving, so I’ll just keep monitoring and make a call at some point.
 


I think I posted about my experience there last year, but I attended the Illinois game at Wrigley. Might be different because it was Thanksgiving weekend with two local teams, but I monitored the ticket prices for months and they never really came down much. Not even with Northwestern having a lousy year and temps in the high teens forecasted. There were empty seats during the game, but very little inventory on the ticket apps and frustratingly little effort to price them to sell on the secondary market. The guy sitting in front of me told me he ate four extra tickets without even trying to sell them.
Same thing happened to me at a couple recent bowl games (PHX 2021, Charlotte last yr). So infuriating paying $75/ticket when the stadiums are maybe half full
 

I think I posted about my experience there last year, but I attended the Illinois game at Wrigley. Might be different because it was Thanksgiving weekend with two local teams, but I monitored the ticket prices for months and they never really came down much. Not even with Northwestern having a lousy year and temps in the high teens forecasted. There were empty seats during the game, but very little inventory on the ticket apps and frustratingly little effort to price them to sell on the secondary market. The guy sitting in front of me told me he ate four extra tickets without even trying to sell them.
Do you have any insight on how strict they were on checking tickets once you got in? I'm thinking we may just get the cheapest tickets to get us in the stadium and then go exploring for better places to sit.
I also noticed the huge number of empty seats in last year's Illinois/Northwestern game and I thought prices must be low with such low demand. But it looks like tickets for the Wrigley games are handled by the Cubs. I don't think they really care about getting a packed house so they have little incentive to lower prices to a reasonable level.
 

We will be there. Really hoping they do an 11 a.m. kickoff so we can post up at the sportsbook and watch the 2:30 games.
 




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