Athletics · October 8, 2026
Forge Bowl Preview: More Than 4,700 Tickets Sold for Saturday’s Homecoming Game Against Chippewa Valley State
The rivalry game kicks off at 1 p.m. October 17 at Millwright Stadium, and the athletic directors have signed an agreement to keep it going after the conference change.
The Ironclads host Chippewa Valley State in the Forge Bowl on Saturday, October 17, at 1 p.m. at Millwright Stadium, the final game of Millrace Week. As of Thursday morning the athletics ticket office had sold or issued 4,712 tickets, putting the game on pace to approach the stadium’s practical capacity of about 5,500.
The Forge Bowl is the best-attended event on the Porter athletic calendar and routinely draws more than 4,000 fans. This year’s game is also the last Forge Bowl played as a conference game before the Ironclads move to a new conference in 2027–28, which raised the question, raised loudly at last spring’s alumni gatherings, of whether the rivalry would survive.
The rivalry continues
It will. The two athletic directors signed a ten-year nonconference scheduling agreement in September that keeps the Forge Bowl on both schedules every October, alternating sites, through 2036.
“Nobody was going to let a conference realignment end this game, least of all me. I would have heard about it at the grocery store for the rest of my life.”
— Chuck Running, director of athletics
Game-day logistics
- Students: free with a Porter Card at the north gate; the student section opens at 11:30 a.m.
- Public tickets: $12 adults, $6 youth and seniors, through the athletics ticket office at (715) 555–0163 or at the gate if available
- Tailgating: the gravel lots open at 10 a.m.; the homecoming parade on Founders Drive at 10:30 a.m. ends at the stadium
- Getting there: the Porter Loop adds a stadium stop and runs every 8 minutes from 10 a.m.; Founders Drive closes to cars from 9:30 a.m. to noon for the parade
- Accessible seating: at field level and mid-concourse; companion seats can be reserved by phone
- Weather: the game is played rain or shine; the bag policy allows one clear bag per person
The Ironclad pep band and Alumni Band will share halftime. Fans who cannot attend can follow on the student radio station and the athletics live stream. The full season is on the fall 2026 athletics schedule, the rivalry’s history on the Forge Bowl page, and the roster on the football team page. The rest of Millrace Week is in the schedule announcement.
Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. The Forge Bowl, Chippewa Valley State, ticket counts and the scheduling agreement are invented; no real game will be played.