CHICAGO — The Big Ten Conference has held football games at Wrigley Field. Now, it will turn to hockey at Chicago’s historic ballpark.
The Big Ten and the Chicago Cubs announced Thursday they will hold four outdoor hockey games at Wrigley Field on Jan. 3 and 4, 2025, just days after the NHL puts on its Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues at the venue on Dec. 31.
The event, which is being called The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series, will include three men’s hockey games and one women’s hockey game. On Friday, Jan. 3, two men’s games will be played with Penn State facing Notre Dame and Ohio State playing Michigan. On Saturday, Jan. 4, Wisconsin and Michigan State will play in the final men’s game and Ohio State and Wisconsin will play in the women’s game, which is technically a Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup.
“What’s most important about this from the perspective of the Big Ten is that we want to continue to bring unique and memorable experiences to our student-athletes,” Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said during a news conference on Thursday. “That’s what this is about. Last year, you saw the Big Ten, we had 92,000 people in an outdoor volleyball game in Nebraska, we had 55,000 people watching Caitlin Clark and the Iowa women’s basketball team and setting records in both cases. So, the fact we’re doing this, it’s another example of that. We’re committed to continuing to do that. To bring the women’s game here is a big part of this event for us and to have that opportunity and spread that.”
The event will be made possible by the NHL, which will keep its ice sheet in place and lend its staff and resources to the Big Ten for the college event.
“As it’s been said a billion times, for us, it’s all about the growth of hockey,” NHL senior executive vice president and chief content officer Steve Mayer said. “The more that we can do on our ice, the better. It’s just going to promote the game of hockey. I don’t care whether it’s college, youth hockey, whatever it is, we respect that and we really lean into that. So to be able to do what they’re doing here, which is awesome, is something that’s worked before. We’ve done other games where college has followed us, and it’s been really cool to see. The amount of people that when you think about it over the course of a week’s time come to see hockey, it’s amazing. Here, we’re talking over 100,000 people within a week watching hockey. That’s when we win.”
Mayer also said the NHL is working to prepare for its second Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, with the first coming in 2009 when the Blackhawks played the Detroit Red Wings. Mayer said the rink will be laid out similarly to 2009, when it was oriented from first base to third base.
“That 2009 was a long time ago, that was the second year of these games,” Mayer said. “We’ve learned a lot. We keep growing as an events’ team. We’ve done a significant amount of these games, well over 40 now. I think the most important thing – I’ve been here for a couple of days – those who attended in 2009 are going to get a completely different experience. Like, aside from the fact you’re going to watch a hockey game and the Blackhawks are going to be playing in the game, that much will be the same. And let’s face it, the stadium is so different than it was in 2009.”
(Photo: Guy Rhodes / USA Today)
