Nebraska announced Monday the implementation of a new mobile ticketing system, and a contactless entry to all athletic events moving forward.
The mobile ticket will not be an option among many, it will be the only option, beginning immediately with fall 2020 athletic events. Some have already gone the mobile ticketing route, but with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the hand of athletic departments around the country, Nebraska is the latest. Printed season and single-game tickets will not be mailed out, the university announced. There will be no print-at-home option, but souvenir tickets for football will be available in the official gameday program sold at Memorial Stadium.
Mobile tickets through the Nebraska Huskers app will be savable to the various mobile wallets (Apple Wallet, Google Pay). If you have the previous Huskers app on your phone, it will update to the newer version. (An FAQ can be found here.)
Also in the release: “information on capacity at Nebraska home events will be determined at a later time.”
To date, Nebraska had not made any decision on stadium capacity for the upcoming football season, nor had it given any kind of timetable for when that decision would come. Any such decision would require guidance from state and local health officials. Athletic Director Bill Moos said in late May if they are allowed to put fans in the stands, Nebraska is going to try.
“Personally, I don’t feel (attendance caps are) a conference rule or an NCAA rule,” he said. “I think that’s an institutional policy. If we feel here in Nebraska, just like I felt all along, that it’s the best place for our student-athletes and it’s the safest and we feel that our fans fully know the risks—if there are any—of attending our events and they’re fine with that, they ought to be able to come and enjoy Nebraska football and volleyball and all of our sports.
“We’re very concerned about the safety and such of our fans, but if we feel and our university and state authorities feel that it’s safe, then I feel we should go the max of whatever’s allowable.”
Earlier Monday, another Big Ten institution, Rutgers, announced that “most” classes would move to an online format. Of the 1,000 courses offered in the fall semester, Rutgers says 900 will be taught online. On-campus housing will be limited (300 students in single rooms), and campus events will be nonexistent, but the university was clear in making the distinction between athletics and academics. Athletic decisions will “continue to be guided by state requirements and policies developed by the campuses’ respective athletic conferences,” according to The Athletic’s Dana O’Neil.
Rutgers is the only such Big Ten program to announce such drastic steps. Nebraska Chancellor Ronnie Green told school faculty at the end of April the expectation for the school is to hold in-person classes.
Indiana has said scholarships will be honored to players who elect to not participate in athletic activities, should they take place. The Ivy League will announce Wednesday whether it will move fall sports to the spring of 2021, but multiple football coaches told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and Nicole Auerbach the expectation is that fall sports will be delayed.
Nebraska football will begin its preseason training a week from Monday, July 13. Voluntary workouts have been taking place since the beginning of June, but starting next week, Nebraska will have eight hours a week from July 13 through July 23 to conduct conditioning, weight training, and film review with coaches.
Fall camp is scheduled to begin on Aug. 7.
Decisions should start coming down soon.
