Northwestern opens new Ryan Field with fireworks and a light show before facing Penn State
(AP) — As Eva Liu and Angie Lee took in the new Ryan Field on Friday, there was one thing in particular that stood out to the pair of Northwestern juniors.The new home of the football team is unmistakably, unabashedly connected to their school.
Eva Liu and Angie Lee marveled at Northwestern's new Ryan Field, a stadium vividly connected to their school. Liu, a neuroscience and film major, noted the field's prominent purple color, while Lee, a chemical engineering student, praised the stadium's grandeur despite past criticism over its cost. The $875 million facility, built on the site of the previous Ryan Field, seats 35,000 and is the smallest in the Big Ten.
The first game was played on the 100th anniversary of the original Northwestern Stadium opening. Alumni Shirley and Pat Ryan and family donated $480 million to fund the stadium and other projects, and a Pat Ryan statue was erected in the concourse. The stadium boasts a noise-focusing canopy, advanced technology, and local food concessions.
The university had broken ground on the new field in June 2024 after two-plus years at a temporary lakefront site and Wrigley Field in Chicago. McKenna Bentley, a 28-year-old from Bloomingdale, appreciated the stadium's loud atmosphere, while her brother Luke, 25, from Naperville, was thrilled seeing the program's growth since his father's time.
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