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The NIU Huskies have made an adjustment to their 2020 non-conference schedule, converting their home game agaisnt BYU into a neutral-site contest, the NIU athletic department announced via press release on Wednesday morning.
The neutral-site game, officially called the “Huskie Chi-Town Showdown”, will take place at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeport, Illinois, on Sat., October 24. SeatGeek Stadium is the former home of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire FC, and current home of the Nationnal Women’s Soccer League’s Red Stars FC, and has a maximum capacity of 28,000.
“Over the years, we have brought Huskie Football to our alumni and supporters in Chicagoland by playing games at Soldier Field and at Guaranteed Rate Field,” NIU athletic director Sean T. Frazier said via press release. “In 2020, we’re excited to play a storied program like BYU in a new location for us, SeatGeek Stadium, and look forward to filling the venue with Huskie fans for this Saturday game in October.”
The last time NIU played a neutral-site game was in 2016, when they played a conference game against Toledo for a Wednesday night tilt at what is now Guaranteed Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox. The Huskies lost 31-24.
The game in Bridgeport will be the fifth home game for NIU in the Chicagoland area since 2007. NIU will have five home games in 2020, including the neutral-site matchup.
Per BYU’s press release, the 2020 matchup will be their first-ever in the state of Illinois, and also their first in a stadium built for professional soccer. BYU and NIU have met one before, in 2018, with the Huskies infamously beating the Cougars by a final score of 7-6 in Provo, Utah.
Tickets will be available to the general public for $35, NIU season ticket members at $25, and at no cost for NIU students.