The Chicago Cubs are reportedly interested in hosting a college football bowl game at Wrigley Field. The Cubs also want to bring back the Northwestern Wildcats and potentially other Big Ten teams for regular-season games in 2020,team president Crane Kenney tells the Chicago Tribune.
As Brett McMurphy noted on Twitter, the earliest a bowl game could be played at Wrigley would be after the 2020 season. Bowl game expansion will be discussed after the 2019 season.
Most recently, Northwestern played Illinois at the "Friendly Confines" in 2010. Over 41,000 fans attended the quirky game. Because of the dimensions of the ballpark and safety concerns about the outfield wall, both teams were forced to play in one direction by switching sides every possession and sharing the same end zone. Ongoing renovations at Wrigley are expected to be finished by 2018 and would allow both end zones to be used for future games.
The New York Yankees successfully launched the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in December 2010 at Yankee Stadium. Bowl games are also played at the home parks of the Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks. If the Cubs are able to land a bowl game at Wrigley, what would it be called? The Windy City Bowl? The Ivy Bowl? Only time will tell.
--John Wilmhoff