Report: Cubs Pushing To Host Annual College Bowl Game At Wrigley Field
(CBS) Cubs officials are working to host an annual college football bowl game at Wrigley Field in the future, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.
The Cubs believe the historic nature of Wrigley Field would be a great draw, even if the game would be played in cold weather around the holidays.
"Concerts that may not sell out elsewhere sell out at Wrigley," Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney told the Tribune. "It's because of the ballpark, Wrigleyville, Chicago, the history. It gives us confidence that a bowl game will succeed here."
Wrigley Field hosted a college game between Northwestern and Illinois back in 2010, a contest the Illini won 48-27. It was notable because the teams played in just one direction, switching sides every possession to use the same end zone because of safety concerns with the wall being so close to the to the back of the other.
With Wrigley Field undergoing a multi-year renovation process, the dugouts and playing field will be slightly altered to make two-way football play possible, the Tribune reported. The Cubs are eyeing 2020 as a goal to host their first college bowl game, the Tribune reported, after all the construction work is done at Wrigley Field.
Northwestern will play a football game at Wrigley Field in November 2020, Kenney told the Tribune. The university and the baseball franchise entered a deal back in 2013 for Northwestern to play various athletic events at Wrigley Field, but it wasn't known until this recent report when the Wildcats football team would take to Wrigley Field next.