Three hours on the wrong side of Ryan Field in September is a bake. The field runs almost due north-south, the shade collects on the west sideline, and below is how much of a noon, 3:30 or night Northwestern kickoff every area spends in shade, ray-traced for this exact bowl.
Pick your game and kickoff. Watch the shade move across the bowl through the game.
The field runs almost due north-south, so the afternoon sun crosses the bowl broadside. The stands on the west side block it first: that sideline averages about 77% of a 3:30 game in shade against 28% for the east side. Every number here is ray-traced for this exact orientation (175 degrees), latitude and kickoff time, by the same engine as the live map.
Share of a full game spent in shade, by area, for a mid-September Saturday:
| Seats | Noon | 3:30 | 7:00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| West sideline, lower rows | 0% | 77% | 100% |
| West sideline, upper deck | 0% | 76% | 100% |
| East sideline, lower rows | 0% | 39% | 100% |
| East sideline, upper deck | 0% | 18% | 100% |
| South end zone, lower rows | 0% | 54% | 100% |
| South end zone, upper deck | 0% | 34% | 100% |
| North end zone, lower rows | 0% | 54% | 100% |
| North end zone, upper deck | 0% | 31% | 100% |
Read 100% as shaded from kickoff to final whistle. Every area drifts toward 100% for evening games as the sun drops.
| Seats | Game in shade | Reaches half shade |
|---|---|---|
| West sideline, lower rows | 77% | about an hour in |
| West sideline, mid level | 77% | about an hour in |
| West sideline, upper deck | 76% | about an hour in |
| South end zone, lower rows | 54% | about 2 hours in |
East sideline, upper deck sit in sun for 82% of a 3:30 game, and East sideline, mid level sit in sun for 73% of a 3:30 game. Noon kickoffs start with the sun about 50 degrees high and nearly every open seat lit. You cannot buy full shade at noon here, only a head start: west sideline, lower rows gain it soonest.
At a 3:30 kickoff the sun stands about 37 degrees up in the southwest. Watch the clock, because shade here is a schedule: shade climbs the west sideline from the bottom up. The lower rows reach half shade about an hour in, the upper deck about an hour in. Most fans guess the upper deck shades first. Here it is backwards: the rake of the stands roughly matches the afternoon sun angle, so shadow pools at the front rows first and then climbs the bowl one row at a time. Even the east sideline, upper deck eventually get there, but not until about 3.5 hours in.
Night games solve the problem for you: at a 7:00 kickoff the sun is already down to about 0 degrees and sets during the first half, so the whole bowl converges on 100% shade. Nobody needs this page for a night kickoff.
Date matters as much as section. Take the same 3:30 kickoff in late October and the west sideline climbs from about 77% shade to about 100%, purely because the kickoff sun drops from 37 to 23 degrees. Every area benefits late in the season.
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Every number here is produced by a 3D ray-traced model of this seating bowl plus the exact solar position for the dates and kickoffs shown, the same engine behind the live map. The model approximates the bowl as a continuous tiered ring, without overhangs, press boxes or section canopies, so read the percentages as a dependable ranking of which areas shade first, not a row-level guarantee. Independent tool; not affiliated with the NCAA or any school.
Same conference, same afternoon sun. Shade guides for the rest of the Big Ten: