Neither Northwestern nor Illinois are ranked entering Saturday’s game, but simply by virtue of it being a Big Ten rivalry game, it surely makes for a decent draw to begin with. In a clever scheduling move, however, the schools agreed to play this game at Wrigley Field, making it the first time the Friendly Confines has hosted a football game in 40 years.
Wrigley Field Football: If Only Northwestern-Illinois Could Reach More Televisions
This curiosity has earned national attention, and if it were televised by the likes of ABC, ESPN, or CBS, it would attract a lot of viewers. And that’s the problem: it’s being broadcast on ESPNU (3:30 p.m.), which many basic cable subscribers don’t have. (Luckily, though this isn’t quite television, the game will be broadcast online at ESPN3 for those who have access.)
Now, coverage rights would likely get in the way of, say, CBS broadcasting this game. This is why I wish one of the teams involved was Notre Dame. The Irish are mediocre this year, to be sure, but South Bend is close enough to Wrigley for it to make perfect sense, and NBC would have been likely to broadcast it.
We can’t really point the finger at anyone in particular. And, hey, it’s quite possible that football at Wrigley won’t be as interesting or fun as we think it will be. The likelihood, though, is that the college football behemoth has failed to fully capitalize on it.
C’est la vie. Whatever the case, we’ll be posting live updates during the Northwestern-Illinois game here on SB Nation. If you’re not able to watch the game, or even if you are, check back with this StoryStream when the game kicks off.
And for more on the teams involved, head over to our Northwestern blog, Sippin’ On Purple, our Illinois blog, Hail To The Orange, and our Cubs blog, Bleed Cubbie Blue.
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