College football being played at baseball stadiums is nothing new. We already have an annual bowl game at Yankee Stadium: the Pinstripe Bowl. Now, one of the most historic stadiums in all of sports could join it. Thanks to new renovations, we could be getting a Wrigley Field bowl game.

Wrigley Field first opened in 1914, and has a football history. The Chicago Bears played home games there for decades. However, the stadium’s recent layout did not really allow for a full-length football field. In 1970, the year after the Bears moved out, Chicago Cubs box seats were added along the third base line.

As a result, a 2010 game at Wrigley between Northwestern and Illinois was played under unique conditions. Because the right field wall was extremely close to one end zone, all offensive plays were run in the same direction, towards the western end zone.

The second photo here shows just how close it was. From Phil Hecken:

Guess you never saw football at Wrigley Field… pic.twitter.com/2CEisodfpN — Phil Hecken (@PhilHecken) August 25, 2017

Now, with new renovations, a Wrigley Field bowl game could be coming.

Last year, Cubs President Crane Kenney was pretty clear that the team wants to host a bowl game. From the Chicago Tribune:

Football will return to Wrigley Field in November of 2020, Cubs President Crane Kenney told the Tribune, with Northwestern’s hosting multiple Big Ten games the team’s “first priority.” More intriguing, Kenney said the Cubs “absolutely” intend to begin hosting an annual bowl game. The bowl would be the first of its kind in the Chicago area, and the timing should be ideal. By 2020 (actually 2018), fans will be able to eat in new Wrigleyville restaurants such as Big Star and Smoke Daddy, sleep at the boutique Hotel Zachary and revel in a tented plaza that can accommodate crowds of nearly 6,000. And needless to say, the field area will be expanded to allow for two full end zones.

New renovations will reportedly allow for two full end zones. New third base side seats, and the dugout, are both removable, which allows for enough room for a full field.

New seats @ Wrigley Field are removable, as is dugout. The @Cubs hope to host football again. Nothing planned, but noted relationship with Northwestern @NUFBFamily pic.twitter.com/qzGzEMvBhO — newsburrow (@newsburrow) April 6, 2018

Northwestern plans to return to Wrigley for a 2020 game. It is undecided which game it will be, but another Chicago Tribune piece floated some options:

Which schools would make an ideal opponent? Strong teams that have a solid fan base in Chicago, ensuring that every seat at Wrigley Field will be sold. (Capacity for the 2010 game was 41,058.) Were Northwestern to return to Wrigley in 2017, for example, school officials would have decided from among Purdue (Nov. 11), Minnesota (Nov. 18) or punting until a future season.

Right now, Northwestern has other home dates on the books against Central Michigan, Nebraska, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Illinois for 2020. Based on the above, if Illinois isn’t the choice again, Nebraska and Wisconsin are the most likely options.

A bowl game up in Chicago seems a bit out there, but the Pinstripe Bowl has produced some pretty fun games, and there are definitely worse things than having more unique locations for bowls, even in the face of the Chicago winter. If we’re going to continue to expand the bowl schedule, college football might as well mix things up with a Wrigley Field bowl game.