Seriously? Wisconsin at Lambeau?

[its_the_sauce]

Right. It's entirely a cash grab. I'd rather play in a 10k seat stadium than in front of 95% opposing fans.

Where have you been living the last 30 years LOL???

Of course it's a cash grab. What part of pro or major college athletics is not a cash grab?

Guessing many of those complaining about the game at Lambeau will be the same ones that will complain about the seat fees at the new stadium.

 

[NUCat320]

Where have you been living the last 30 years LOL???

Of course it's a cash grab. What part of pro or major college athletics is not a cash grab?

Guessing many of those complaining about the game at Lambeau will be the same ones that will complain about the seat fees at the new stadium.

The new stadium and BTN contract and conference game in Seattle are about THE ACADEMIC MISSION!

 

[gradeck]

As dumb as the idea of Lambeau sounds, there are no options in Chicagoland the week of 10/19.
-Soldier Field: Chicago Fire season finale
-SeatGeek: On hold as the Fire’s back-up plan in the event the Bears are at home on 10/20; doesn’t become available until the NFL schedule is set
-Wrigley, Guaranteed Rate: Baseball teams obviously not giving up October home dates

So…where to? DeKalb? South Bend? Champaign? Those might be your only options.

Aren’t all 3 of those options better than a defacto home game for Wisconsin?

ND and Illinois are on the road that day. Surely they would allow the loan of their stadium if we asked nicely?

 

[NUCat320]

Matt and Lou published a nice article about the situation, which seems to me to have sprung out of the athletic department not being proactive in seeking out acceptable dates before the schedule was released.

That said, worth noting that Lambeau will likely be a two-fer, with the 2025 game being a neutral site game against a name opponent. That does give NU something to recruit off of for ‘25 and, frankly, I wouldn’t be opposed to a similar deal to play a home game in Indy or, yup, Cleveland or Cincinnati or Minneapolis.

The whole dang Midwest’s B1G team.

FARGO’s Big Ten team?

 

[EvanstonCat]

You sure about that? I could see Mark Murphy giving us a bone. He still loves NU. I’ve met him a couple times after Packers games and we talked about recent NU games.

Maybe Murphy is purple enough to have given Gragg a condition on Lambeau being available subject to the opponent being anyone BUT Wisconsin. Honestly, I wish we could play Ohio State there. Sconnies would show up and root for us.

 

[phatcat]

Where have you been living the last 30 years

Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, California, Idaho and now Wisconsin. I'm like Johnny Cash

 

[Sheffielder]

Aren’t all 3 of those options better than a defacto home game for Wisconsin?

ND and Illinois are on the road that day. Surely they would allow the loan of their stadium if we asked nicely?

Honestly...yes I'd rather play Wisconsin in Champaign than Green Bay. But I also realize saying that out loud to the Athletic Director would make him roll his eyes, and he would be right to do so when it would probably be a swing of 25,000 or so paying customers.

 

[zeek55]

Maybe Murphy is purple enough to have given Gragg a condition on Lambeau being available subject to the opponent being anyone BUT Wisconsin. Honestly, I wish we could play Ohio State there. Sconnies would show up and root for us.

I mean that Wisconsin date is one of the ones where finding a stadium is a problem.

I can't deny though that playing Michigan or Oregon there in 2025 sounds like a fun neutral site game.

 

[hdhntr1]

Honestly...yes I'd rather play Wisconsin in Champaign than Green Bay. But I also realize saying that out loud to the Athletic Director would make him roll his eyes, and he would be right to do so when it would probably be a swing of 25,000 or so paying customers.

Lot cheaper to rent IL than Packers stadium. Is the Packer stadium grass? If so, probably could not have a game there if Packers in town same week

 

[palbeans]

Lot cheaper to rent IL than Packers stadium. Is the Packer stadium grass? If so, probably could not have a game there if Packers in town same week

Yes, Lambeau is a grass field. It would also be a problem to repaint the field in less than one day.

 

[ricko654321]

Thank you, Dr. Gragg!

I knew there’d be a logical explanation.

In Gragg we Trust. Right @Purple Pile Driver ?

Yeah new member as of Feb 20, 2024... may not be Gragg himself but probably someone from the AD. The explanation is somewhat helpful. Although personally I'd rather play in DeKalb or Champaign than give the Badgers a de facto home game in Lambeau.

Agree with others that Lambeau would be a cool destination for a non-Wisconsin game. Of course they may not be interested in hosting if it's not for the NU UW game.

Also in light of that would think the NU AD might wait out for the NFL schedule release in early May to decide where we play certain games. That probably influences other games too - not sure if we'd be able to play @ Solider Field on a Saturday before a Sunday home game. Or if so, perhaps only with the field is painted for the Bears, not for Northwestern (not sure the guidelines on turnaround time - maybe the Bears would also want an exit clause for if there's bad weather on the Saturday so the field isn't torn up for the Sunday game right after).

 

[its_the_sauce]

Yes, Lambeau is a grass field. It would also be a problem to repaint the field in less than one day.

Actually that is not quite correct. While Lambeau does start with natural turf, there are synthetic fibers woven into the natural turf. It is VERY state of the art. Obviously while repainting in a day might pose challenges, there really wouldn't be much concern when it comes to wear on the turf in such a scenario.

 

[ricko654321]

Yeah new member as of Feb 20, 2024... may not be Gragg himself but probably someone from the AD. The explanation is somewhat helpful. Although personally I'd rather play in DeKalb or Champaign than give the Badgers a de facto home game in Lambeau.

Agree with others that Lambeau would be a cool destination for a non-Wisconsin game. Of course they may not be interested in hosting if it's not for the NU UW game.

Also in light of that would think the NU AD should wait out for the NFL schedule release in early May to decide where we play certain games. That probably influences other games too - not sure if we'd be able to play @ Solider Field on a Saturday before a Sunday home game. Or if so, perhaps only with the field is painted for the Bears, not for Northwestern (not sure the guidelines on turnaround time - maybe the Bears would also want an exit clause for if there's bad weather on the Saturday so the field isn't torn up for the Sunday game right after).

Also worth noting that KU (Kansas) has already managed to lock in 4 dates at Arrowhead (Chiefs stadium - schedule linked below) before the NFL schedule is finalized. Somehow it seems that level of advance planning is beyond Gragg and co. Maybe we end up going with what one poster suggested a while back - a surprise stadium location reveal every Wednesday before a home game to keep things fresh and fun!

Official Website of the Kansas City Chiefs | Chiefs.com

This is the official Kansas City Chiefs Facebook fan page. For more information go to http://www.chiefs.com.

www.chiefs.com

 

[docrugby1]

I stopped by a Miami Redhawks fan board. Now, they think their game with the Wildcats should be moved to their campus in Oxford, Ohio.

I could actually accept this. The MAC teams always play NU/B1G away and this may be a way to strengthen the bond between the two conferences. Miami, O gave us Coach Walker maybe it's the time to repay them. Maybe NU will accept the away game as a challenge and actually show up for a MAC team.

 

[docrugby1]

Honestly...yes I'd rather play Wisconsin in Champaign than Green Bay. But I also realize saying that out loud to the Athletic Director would make him roll his eyes, and he would be right to do so when it would probably be a swing of 25,000 or so paying customers.

Notre Dame is not a bad idea if they would agree to it

 

[phatcat]

maybe it's the time to repay them.

Maybe it's time to repay them for beating us 7 out of 10, including some humiliating in the post dark ages.

You know, some of us want to GO to the games. I'd rather have it at ETHS

 

[docrugby1]

Maybe it's time to repay them for beating us 7 out of 10, including some humiliating in the post dark ages.

You know, some of us want to GO to the games. I'd rather have it at ETHS

That is why I would hope, we would rise to the occasion, rather than suffer another home loss. i want to go to the games also. I can get to Oxford as easily as some of these other locations

 

[phatcat]

That is why I would hope, we would rise to the occasion, rather than suffer another home loss. i want to go to the games also. I can get to Oxford as easily as some of these other locations

That's fair. I hate the Lambeau/Wisc idea because it gives away a home game, but it's 90 mins from me

 

[Zootcat]

As dumb as the idea of Lambeau sounds, there are no options in Chicagoland the week of 10/19.
-Soldier Field: Chicago Fire season finale
-SeatGeek: On hold as the Fire’s back-up plan in the event the Bears are at home on 10/20; doesn’t become available until the NFL schedule is set
-Wrigley, Guaranteed Rate: Baseball teams obviously not giving up October home dates

So…where to? DeKalb? South Bend? Champaign? Those might be your only options.

It’s almost like we should have thought of this and asked the fan base a long time ago, no?

 

[jne381]

South Bend wouldn't be a bad option for some games.

It is neutral territory, set up for football, and not too far away.

 

[zeek55]

It’s almost like we should have thought of this and asked the fan base a long time ago, no?

I think issue is that nobody knows stadium availability until last minute.

NFL for example sets matchups in January but not dates (released in May). So you don't know dates until May for Soldier Field availability.

 

[Zootcat]

Referencing Zeek’s comment above - That’s a fair point to an extent, but they could have negotiated first right of refusal so that NU could lock in dates as they became available. This could have avoided the music festival conflict at Seatgeek, for example.

Also, they could have avoided a lot of the fanbase’s frustration, if they’d surveyed us and assessed our interest/likelihood of attending games at each potential venue.

What they’re doing now is a pure crapshoot, which from a marketing, and planning standpoint is inexcusable.

 

[gradeck]

I think issue is that nobody knows stadium availability until last minute.

NFL for example sets matchups in January but not dates (released in May). So you don't know dates until May for Soldier Field availability.

That’s not at all the case. NFL stadiums host all sorts of other events, including on weekends during the NFL season. They are booked long before the NFL schedule is publicly released.

Just because the general public doesn’t know the dates does not mean Soldier Field (or any other NFL stadium) has to wait to book other events.

 

[HappyNUyear]

ND and Illinois are on the road that day. Surely they would allow the loan of their stadium if we asked nicely?

Illinois is at home Oct 19th vs Michigan, however ND is at Georgia Tech that day

 

[Styre]

That’s not at all the case. NFL stadiums host all sorts of other events, including on weekends during the NFL season. They are booked long before the NFL schedule is publicly released.

Just because the general public doesn’t know the dates does not mean Soldier Field (or any other NFL stadium) has to wait to book other events.

Not just publicly released, they're booked long before the schedule is even written, which happens after the NFL Draft.

 

[csh2088]

The scheduling issues should have been taking care of by now. I know the the Ohio State game is scheduled for Wrigley field but I would just play the other games at Seat Geek Stadium. It makes no sense to play a home game in another teams back yard and playing home games on a rivals home field should be completely out of the question. We might as play home games at Lusail Stadium in Qatar with the mess this is.

 

[eastbaycat99]

If anyone ever read The Great American Novel by Philip Roth, it may lead you to think Dr. Gragg is a direct descendant of the owners of the Port Rupert Mundys. Oh, well, call me Smitty.