CHICAGO — The Big Ten Conference has previously held its football games at Wrigley Field. Now, Chicago’s historic ballpark will host ice hockey.
The Big Ten and the Chicago Cubs announced Thursday that they will hold four outdoor hockey games at Wrigley Field on Jan. 3 and 4, 2025, just days after the NHL hosts its Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues there on Dec. 31.
The event, called “The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series,” features three men’s hockey games and one women’s hockey game. There will be two men’s games on Jan. 3, with Penn State taking on Notre Dame and Ohio State taking on Michigan. On 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.
“From the Big Ten’s perspective, the most important thing is that we want to continue to provide unique and memorable experiences for our student-athletes,” Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said during a press conference Thursday. “That’s what it’s all about. Last year, you saw the Big Ten, we had 92,000 fans at an outdoor volleyball game in Nebraska, we had 55,000 fans at Caitlin Clark and the Iowa women’s basketball team, setting records in both cases.”
“The fact that we’re doing this is another example of that. We’re committed to continuing to do that. Bringing the women’s game here is a big part of this event for us and having this opportunity and spreading the word.”
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The Frozen Confines will feature three Big Ten men’s ice hockey games and one Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) women’s ice hockey game at Wrigley Field on the weekend of January 3 and 4, 2025.
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The event is made possible by the NHL, which maintains its ice surface on site and provides its personnel and resources to the Big Ten for the college event.
“As I’ve said a thousand times, we’re about developing hockey,” said Steve Mayer, the NHL’s senior executive vice president and chief content officer. “The more we can do on our ice, the better. It just promotes hockey. I don’t care if it’s college hockey or youth hockey or whatever, we respect that and we’re really committed to it. So for us to be able to do what they’re doing here, which is great, it’s worked before.”
“We’ve done other games where colleges have followed us, and it was really cool to see that. When you think about how many people come to watch hockey over the course of a week, it’s incredible. Here we’re talking about over 100,000 people watching hockey in a week. Then we win.”
Mayer also said the NHL is preparing for its second Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. The first was in 2009, when the Blackhawks played the Detroit Red Wings. Mayer said the rink will be laid out similarly to 2009, when it was aligned from first base to third base.
“2009 was a long time ago, that was the second year of these games,” Mayer said. “We learned a lot. We continue to grow as an event team. We’ve done a significant number of these games, well over 40 now. I think the most important thing – I’ve been here a few days – is that those who were there in 2009 are going to have a completely different experience. Aside from the fact that you’re going to see a hockey game and the Blackhawks are going to be there, a lot of things are going to stay the same. And let’s face it, the stadium is so different than it was in 2009.”
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(Photo: Guy Rhodes / USA Today)
