New Ryan Field to set tone for all venues

PURPLE REIGN: Northwestern’s new football stadium will rival NFL venues for the wide mix of premium seating and overall quality of the fan experience. (Courtesy Northwestern)

“Outdoor arena” feel to Big Ten stadium

College sports venues historically look to their big league brothers for inspiration in design trends, but in the case of Northwestern’s new football stadium, the project breaks new ground in sports facility development.

That’s the take of Ryan Gedney, HNTB’s lead designer for new Ryan Field, the 35,000-seat stadium opening in 2026 on the Big Ten school’s campus in Evanston, Illinois.

HNTB teamed up for the project with Perkins & Will, a firm that has done extensive work at Northwestern.

“Ryan Field will be as good, if not better, than a lot of pro venues overall,” Gedney said. “It’s at a sophistication level that’s no longer trying to take some cues from pro sports, but a much deeper sea change in the overall quality of the venue. It comes through in a lot of different things, first, being built from the ground up, but also a deep commitment to diversity of choice in fan seating and amenities.”

Gedney’s thoughts on the project come one week after Northwestern officials released the newest renderings of a building whose hard construction costs run $676 million, according to HNTB officials. The overall cost is $850 million, an increase of $50 million over the round number Northwestern has been using over the past two years after announcing the project.

The splashy renderings and short videos extend to elaborate club lounges and outdoor patios, some facing Lake Michigan, spacious exterior plazas and, by default, some of the best seats in college football, due to the size of the seating bowl for what will ultimately rank among the smallest stadiums among the 67 schools across the Power 4 conferences.

“It’s a little bit like an outdoor arena when it comes to intimacy,” Gedney said. “When you combine that lower capacity with a full roof canopy, the proximity to the action is unmatched  in college football, and really, any venue. My favorite seats are in the upper deck. I’m excited for people to feel that intimacy and reality vs. a pretty picture on a social media post. It’s going to be shocking in the best way possible, a great bowl environment.”

Gedney said the scope remains plentiful over the percentage of premium seating compared with new stadiums in the bigs and college sports.

Northwestern donors can expect to see about a dozen premium products at the new stadium, including multiple field level seating, a stark departure from old Ryan Field, which had some suites and donor seats. At the new stadium, the largest of those spaces will be a field club in the north end zone with seating on the turf. Legends is responsible for selling premium at new Ryan Field.

“We’re being strategic for how there’s opportunities for upsell, even in the lower price point ticket areas, where you can have premium in the upper concourse and flex the inventory as sales teams require,” Gedney said.

Student seating will be in the south end zone, taking shape as a supporters section, similar to Major League Soccer venues, which adopted the European soccer stadium model over the past 20 years.

At new Ryan Field, there will be 1,800 safe-standing seats, falling in line with UCLA student seating at Rose Bowl Stadium, installed prior to the 2024 season and situated behind the visiting team bench. The difference is Northwestern’s supporters section, shown in a rendering, appears to be much closer to the field in a compact setting compared with UCLA’s, four sections running the width of the east sideline and separated by bushes.

Gedney said Northwestern students will have their own gathering space behind the supporters section.

The stadium also stands out for accessible seating for fans with physical disabilities. All told, it will run close to 200% over what’s required at sports venues under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Gedney said.

Shirley Ryan, wife of Pat Ryan and part of the Ryan family, the lead donor supporting private financing for the stadium, drove the effort to expand ADA sections to the next level, far beyond the minimum guidelines.

Most important, those seats will have the best views of the game for those challenged in mobility, Gedney said.

“Part of that is about simple design choices,” he said. “By sinking the entire bowl into the ground so the main concourse is aligned with grade, you have that natural accessibility that comes from arrival and leads to great seats. You’re also being a much better neighbor to the surrounding community in Evanston, which deserves to have a venue nearby that’s not towering over it.”