Evanston’s new Ryan Field opens October 2 with Northwestern vs. Penn State

Northwestern University’s new Ryan Field in Evanston opens to the public on Friday, October 2, 2026, when the Wildcats play Penn State at 7 p.m. on the stadium’s Central Street site. The game is the first at the rebuilt stadium, which replaced the 1926 bowl at 1501 Central St., and Northwestern’s athletics department lists the kickoff at 7 p.m. Central on FOX on its football schedule. The date is not an accident: the school says the opener falls 100 years to the day after the original Ryan Field opened, according to a Northwestern release dated September 23.

Before anyone lines up at a gate, here are the basics for the opening weekend in Evanston.

• The Ryan Field dedication ceremony runs Thursday, October 1, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., with neighborhood parking restricted from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., per the City of Evanston’s District 6 parking page.
• The Penn State game kicks off at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 2, the first of five home games at the new stadium this fall.
• The stadium seats about 35,000 people, down from roughly 47,000 at the old Ryan Field, according to Evanston Now.
• Street parking in Parking District 6 is limited to permit holders from two hours before the event until one hour after it ends, with fines up to $125, the city says.

A privately funded stadium built in the old one’s footprint

The Ryan family, led by insurance executive and Northwestern alumnus Pat Ryan, paid for the project as a gift to the university. Evanston Now put the cost at $875 million in its September 23 report, while ABC7 Chicago reported a figure of $862 million in February, when the school pushed the opening back from the start of the season to October. ABC7 said cold, wet weather through last fall and winter slowed construction by about five weeks, which is why Northwestern played its first two home games, against South Dakota State on September 5 and Colorado on September 19, at a temporary field at Martin Stadium on the lakefront.

The new building is smaller and shorter than the century-old stadium it replaced, ABC7 reported, and Northwestern says the cantilevered design puts every seat under a canopy with an individual chair, armrests and a cupholder. Pat Ryan Jr. of Ryan Sports Development told ABC7 the family plans a fall festival at Halloween and a holiday event at Christmas on the grounds. “We’re going to keep our promises,” Ryan said.

Opening week ran as a dress rehearsal

Northwestern spent the last week of September testing the building with a series of events, according to the Evanston RoundTable. The week went like this.

1. On Wednesday, September 23, students bused in along Ashland Avenue for a pep rally that included the unveiling of a student mural on the stadium’s south exterior; head coach David Braun and players greeted students at the gates, Evanston Now reported.
2. On Friday, September 25, season ticket holders got the full stadium, with every gate open and the Northwestern game at Indiana shown on the video boards. Northwestern had told the city to expect up to 10,000 guests; Evanston Now estimated the crowd at a couple of thousand. The Wildcats lost that game 29-23.
3. On Sunday, September 27, the contractors who built the stadium toured the facility with their families, entering through the northwest gate.

Fans at the Friday open house told Evanston Now there was “no comparison” between the new stadium and the old one, and the site’s reporter counted monogrammed restroom faucets among the details.

What game day looks like for the neighborhood

The city and Northwestern have spent much of 2026 on a transportation management plan for the stadium, which sits in a residential part of north Evanston. Under the plan reviewed by the city’s Ryan Field Advisory Board in May, Northwestern intends to keep fans out of neighborhood street parking altogether, with a dedicated rideshare zone, shuttle buses between the stadium, campus, downtown Evanston and off-site lots, and permit-only signs on streets south of Isabella Street, Evanston Now reported. A Northwestern traffic consultant told the board that fans parking in the neighborhood “is not part of the plan anymore.”

The city’s rules for Parking District 6 apply to any event expected to draw more than 4,000 people. During restricted hours, only vehicles with a valid District 6 resident or guest permit may park on the street, and the city warns that violators face fines up to $125 and possible towing. The RoundTable advised drivers to allow extra time on Central Street and Ashland Avenue around start and end times, and to watch for large groups of pedestrians. The Central Street Metra station on the Union Pacific North line is a short walk from the stadium.

Food is part of the ticket

On September 23, the stadium announced what it calls the Great Chicago Food Festival, a set of permanent food pavilions on the stadium plaza that open two hours before kickoff and stay open through the game. Admission is included with every ticket and fans pay only for what they eat, according to the Northwestern release. The pavilions occupy a 50,000-square-foot area the stadium calls the Village at Ryan Field, and the six opening concepts were created for the stadium: a taco and torta stand from chef Rick Bayless, a stand called Goatdown from Evanston native Stephanie Izard, two counters called Gibsons Tavern and Luxbar Grill from the Rush Street steakhouse family, a rotating pavilion for James Beard Award winners called The Medallion that opens with a concept from chef Paul Kahan’s group, and Dimmi Baby, an Italian-American stand from a Lincoln Park restaurant team. A separate on-site tailgate called the Great Big Ten Grillout serves grilled burgers, barbecue chicken and roasted sweet corn, and a set of rotating pop-ups from Evanston and North Shore restaurants is still to be announced.

Tickets, including $25 seats for public servants

Northwestern announced on September 24 a program it calls Seats for Those Serving, which sets aside up to 500 seats per game at $25 each, fees and taxes included, for public servants who live or work in Evanston and for Northwestern alumni in public service, according to Evanston Now. The school’s release lists teachers and school staff, nurses and health care workers, police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, military members and veterans, government employees, librarians, social workers and clergy as eligible. Applicants verify through a work email address or, for Evanston residents who work elsewhere, a copy of an ID with an Evanston address. Approved fans can buy up to four seats per game for up to two games a season, and the tickets may not be resold. Evanston Now reported that the cheapest regular ticket for the Penn State game was listed at $141 as of September 24.

The remaining home schedule at the new stadium, per the city’s parking page and Northwestern, is set. Kickoff times after the opener are still to be announced.

• Friday, October 2: Penn State, 7 p.m., the grand opening.
• Saturday, October 10: Ball State, homecoming.
• Saturday, October 24: Rutgers, family weekend.
• Saturday, November 7: Iowa.
• Saturday, November 28: Illinois, senior day.

Northwestern has said it will publish the number of $25 seats used at the end of the season. The city’s District 6 page notes that kickoff times are subject to change, so neighbors should check it before each home date.

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