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Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium

Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium in Evanston, IL, home of Northwestern. Capacity 12,023. Opened 1997.

Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium in Evanston, IL
Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, Evanston, ILPhoto: SecretName101, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Capacity
12,023
Opened
1997
Surface
Artificial turf
Roof
Open air
Elevation
587 ft
Home team
Northwestern
Northwestern here
8–⁠4 games on file since 2024

Since it opened: Northwestern is 17–⁠15 in home games from the 1997 season on. Our source names a game’s stadium only from 2001, so that count takes every earlier home game not marked neutral and may include a few played elsewhere.

Crowds season by season

Average and biggest crowd at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium by season, 2024 to 20265k10k15k2024: 11,552 a game over 5 games; biggest 12,0232025: 11,548 a game over 5 games; biggest 12,0232026: 10,799 a game over 2 games; biggest 12,023’24’25’26

Biggest crowds on file

12,023Colorado at Northwestern2026
12,023Purdue at Northwestern2025
12,023UL Monroe at Northwestern2025
12,023UCLA at Northwestern2025
12,023Oregon at Northwestern2025

Bars are each season’s average crowd, dots its biggest (the record in orange), the dashed rule today’s capacity. Attendance is on file for most games from 2001 on.

Big Noon Kickoff here

Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff once.

Sep 13, 2025Oregon 34, Northwestern 14

Big Noon Kickoff’s from Wikipedia’s list of its sites (CC BY-SA).

Weather on game day

Coldest kickoffs

Hottest kickoffs

Coldest game days before 2004

Hottest game days before 2004

Snow on game day

Kickoffs: the NOAA report nearest kickoff from the closest weather station (NOAA NCEI Integrated Surface Database). Game days: the day’s high and snowfall at the NOAA station nearest the stadium, for Northwestern’s home games before 2004 (NOAA GHCN-Daily, public domain).

The stadium’s history

Opened
1997
Architect
HOK and 360 Architecture (2016)
InProduction
Surface over the years
Artificial turf (current)
Natural grass (former)
Renovated
2016, 2024

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium.

Recent games here

Sep 19, 2026Northwestern 41, Colorado 7
Sep 5, 2026Northwestern 34, South Dakota State 18
Oct 18, 2025Northwestern 19, Purdue 0
Oct 4, 2025Northwestern 42, UL Monroe 7
Sep 27, 2025Northwestern 17, UCLA 14
Sep 13, 20254Oregon 34, Northwestern 14
Sep 5, 2025Northwestern 42, Western Illinois 7
Oct 19, 2024Wisconsin 23, Northwestern 3
Oct 5, 202423Indiana 41, Northwestern 24
Sep 14, 2024Northwestern 31, Eastern Illinois 7
Sep 6, 2024Duke 26, Northwestern 20
Aug 31, 2024Northwestern 13, Miami (OH) 6