The Univ. of Illinois football team will host Northwestern at Soldier Field three times over the next five years, taking "a major step" to "enhance its football team's exposure in Chicago," according to Ryan & Greenstein of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The games will take place in '15, '17 and '19. This year's game "originally was scheduled for Memorial Stadium in Champaign." Illinois hosted Washington at Soldier Field in '13, "drawing a crowd of 47,312." Tickets for this year's game will be "sold separately from season-ticket packages" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/10). In Champaign, Matt Daniels reports Illinois "generated a net revenue" of $1.96M from its '13 game at Soldier Field. The school "averaged a net revenue of $946,019" for its home games this past season. Illinois AD Mike Thomas said, "To play our final home game (in Chicago) in those years and really make it a tradition, knowing we have a significant alumni base up there, is our goal. Let's face it. Most of our students on that particular weekend are back in Chicago anyway because it’s Thanksgiving weekend." Thomas said that discussions "didn’t center around Illinois playing another opponent at Soldier Field nor were the possibilities of moving the game to a different venue in Chicago" (Champaign NEWS-GAZETTE, 2/10). In Chicago, Seth Gruen writes Illinois "doesn’t seem to have much to lose, given that it has seen home attendance dwindle in recent seasons." Still, the move "is a bold one by Illinois." Northwestern has long promoted itself as "Chicago’s Big Ten team," though the crowds at games between the teams in the Chicago area "seem to go against that notion" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/10).
