No fans? No problem because the Huskers have a plan. A virtual one, of course.
The Nebraska Athletic department announced Thursday morning its plans to “sell out” Memorial Stadium through its “Sea of Red Sellout” campaign. The campaign will provide Nebraska fans “the opportunity to fill Memorial Stadium and collect commemorative items unique to the 2020 season.”
Nebraska has a goal of selling 92,020 total tickets. Each “seat” costs $25 and will count as one virtual ticket sold. There are various levels to purchase, which allows fans the possibility of having a cardboard cutout placed either in the stadium or in the Tunnel Walk. All proceeds from the campaign “will support Husker student-athletes and allow Nebraska Athletics to address the areas of greatest need during this challenging time.”
“Each virtual seat purchase will also enter fans into weekly prize drawings including Adidas apparel, FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha) gift cards and other Husker items,” Nebraska said in a release to season ticket holders. “All proceeds from the season-long campaign will support Husker student-athletes and allow Nebraska Athletics to address the areas of greatest need during this challenging time.”
Nebraska hopes the campaign will help address the lost income from not having fans in the stands in 2020. Ticket sales, concessions and merchandise total around $35 million in one season alone.
Athletic Director Bill Moos recently said he hoped to find creative ways to get fans involved from home.
“Hopefully we can get them involved in some innovative ways and we’re already working on that,” Moos said. “The important thing is that our fans are going to have Husker football.”
For $25, Nebraska fans will get one “seat” plus a collector’s item. The list of options includes a commemorative 2020 season ticket, a 1970 national championship team poster, a 2020 program or a helmet cutout poster.
For $100, fans will receive four “seats,” plus the commemorative item and a cardboard cutout that will be placed inside Memorial Stadium for the entire 2020 season.
For $250, fans will receive 10 “seats,” all four commemorative items and two cardboard cutouts in the stadium all season long.
A $1,000 purchase gives fans 40 “seats,” all four commemorative items, four fan cutouts in the stadium and two cardboard cutouts in the Tunnel Walk. Only 250 of these packages exist.
“Nebraska fans are the best fans in college football and we know they are going to be engaged on game days even though they can’t be in Memorial Stadium,” Moos said in a statement on Thursday. “This campaign will give our fans a unique opportunity to carry on the Sea of Red tradition and collect a personalized piece of Husker history from the 2020 season.”
Fans will also have an opportunity to connect with the Huskers through a “game-day video stream” that will happen via Huskers.com and Facebook Live. The steam will be designed to accompany the network television broadcast and will “feature video of pregame warmups, the Tunnel Walk, the Cornhusker Marching Band and Husker Spirit Squad, video shots of fan cutouts, and other HuskerVision game-day features.” It will also included pre-game and halftime studio segments, as well as the Husker Radio Network broadcast and stats and information.
The “tickets” go on sale starting Tuesday, Oct. 6.
