Northwestern found itself in a terrible predicament in early 2024, having begun the demolition of Ryan Field I, before finalizing the football team's home playing sites for the fall. With the Chicago pro sports teams still working out their own schedules, NU's options were limited.

The school chose to go big and bold, and announced on April 10 that it would play most of its home games in 2024 and 2025 on the lakefill. Using Martin Stadium, the field NU uses for lacrosse and soccer, as a home base for football, NU constructed additional temporary bleachers to accommodate approximately 12,000 fans, a comically small number for a Big Ten program, but an amazing undertaking for NU's lakefront campus, with just a few months to go before kickoff.

In its announcement of the decision, NU noted that, "to make the enhancements to the Martin athletics facility, the University has partnered with InProduction, the company behind the structures used for the NASCAR viewing area in downtown Chicago, as well as temporary seating, staging, structures, and more for college athletics at the University of Hawaii and Florida State." Construction began as soon as the lacrosse season finished.

On August 12, 2024, Northwestern announced the temporary stadium had been branded Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. The newly-branded venue was to be called this for just the two seasons that the football team would use the field. NU hosted its first five home games at Martin during both the 2024 and '25 seasons. The team played its final two home games each season at Wrigley FIeld.