NEWSLETTER
When the Cubs updated us on the progress of their offseason renovations earlier this year, one of the more intriguing bits was the addition of removable infield seats along the third base line. With the additional space, football games at Wrigley Field were going to be much easier to accommodate in the future (when they played a game there before, the offense always had to go in one direction – now, they’ll have space for a fully playable, two-way field), and that’s both fun and potentially quite lucrative.
Take a look:
More details about #B1GCats returning to the Friendly Confines: https://t.co/IfMQQnSZlq pic.twitter.com/PFiT8dG4Lp
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 5, 2018
And of course, just a week ago, we learned that the Cubs would be hosting the Northwestern Wildcats for a game in just two short years. So, yeah, the plan is moving forward.
But for a while now, we also heard that the Cubs/Ricketts Family would like to have Wrigley Field also play host to a college bowl game in the future. And, earlier this week, there were some specifics on that happening if the NCAA approved three new contests per the Competition Committee’s recommendations …
Chicago’s Wrigley Field (B1G vs. ACC) & Myrtle Beach will be among 3 new bowl sites added if NCAA approves Competition Committee’s recommendations, sources said. 65% of the 130 FBS teams will then go bowling https://t.co/fcxi8GKyeI
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 11, 2018
… and now it looks like that has indeed happened:
Sources: NCAA approves adding 3 new bowls in 2020 for a total of 43 bowls (including title game): 84 teams or 65% of all FBS teams will go bowling. Official announcement today. Chicago (B1G vs. ACC) & Myrtle Beach will be 2 of new bowls, sources said. https://t.co/OOiybwQfBT
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 13, 2018
According to Brett Murphy, “the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee approved the recommendations to add three new bowl games for the 2020 season,” but the locations of three bowls have not officially been determined.
With that said, Murphy claims that Chicago and Myrtle Beach are “near locks” to host two of the three remaining bowls, while, Arizona State may be a candidate for the third (but other locations are apparently still in the mix for that one).
And of course, if Chicago gets the bowl as expected, it is to be played at Wrigley Field and will feature the Big Ten against the ACC. Also of note, “To add the Chicago bowl in 2020, the Big Ten is expected to end its affiliation with the San Francisco Bowl (formerly Foster Farms Bowl) after 2019.”
So it’s not quite a lock yet, but the hardest part is out of the way. Now that three new bowl games have been added, it’s very likely that Wrigley will play host to one of them in 2020, and that’s fun.
