Wisconsin Badgers to play Notre Dame at Lambeau Field
CHICAGO (WLUK) -- The Wisconsin Badgers will face off against Notre Dame at two iconic NFL stadiums, the team says.
The Badgers made the announcement Monday in Chicago:
The teams have agreed to a two-year contract.
The Badgers and Fighting Irish will play at Lambeau Field on Oct. 3, 2020 and again at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sept. 25, 2021.
The games mark the first meeting between the two teams since 1964.
Local fans of both teams are looking forward to the big game.
"I'm just excited for another football game at Lambeau," said Joe Vanden Avond of De Pere. He graduated from UW-Madison in 2013 and is the vice-president of the alumni association in Brown County.
Vanden Avond says he can't wait for his alma mater to face Notre Dame on the grid iron.
"How many times in my life am I going to be able to see the Badgers play Notre Dame? I don't think it'll be too many after these two," he said.
2004 Notre Dame graduate Dr. Joel Hein is planning to go to the big game at Lambeau.
"I think it's exciting," Hein said. "Two programs with rich histories coming to play in really the mecca of football. Great fan base from both programs that are going to travel. It's great for Green Bay as well. It's going to be a great weekend."
If the past is any indication, the impact of a Wisconsin-Notre Dame game may be even bigger than a Packers game.
"Essentially, this is two visiting teams that are coming in," said Brad Toll from the Great Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Toll says the game could be on par with last year's Wisconsin-LSU game which generated about $15-million. That's a million dollars more than a Packers home game, Toll said.
"LSU because of the distance, they were here longer it seems," Toll said. "Typically, a three-night stay whereas we might expect Notre Dame to have a two-night given a lot of their alumni base is down in the Chicago area and northern Indiana. We may not see as long a stay but we won't know until it happens."
If the experience is anything like the LSU game, fans on both sides say it will be a huge success.
"The LSU experience was one that I don't think any of my friends and family are going to forget for a long time," Vanden Avond said.
"When I was at that gam I told some other people I was with, 'This is really like the Notre Dame atmosphere.' The tailgating beforehand, everyone welcoming the LSU fans. It's the same at Notre Dame. I think it's going to be exactly the same," Hein said.
