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Balloons Returning to Memorial Stadium for Nebraska Football Games?

Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen released an eyebrow-raising tweet on Saturday night following the Huskers' season-opening win over UTEP at Memorial Stadium.

Austin Jacobsen

Aug 30, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers fans release red balloons after a score during the second half against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska won 55-7.
Aug 30, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers fans release red balloons after a score during the second half against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska won 55-7. / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
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A fan-favorite tradition for Nebraska football could be making a return to Memorial Stadium - or is at least being teased by the Huskers athletic director.

Troy Dannen took to social media Saturday night to post on X a still photo of a red balloon. The post followed the home win by Nebraska football over UTEP earlier in the day, and came after the Husker volleyball victory against TCU that evening.

Many Nebraska fans in the replies stated support in bringing back the Memorial Stadium tradition that has been on hiatus since 2022 when former athletic director Trev Alberts ended the balloon release. Alberts cited a global helium shortage and other factors as to why the Big Red let go of the celebration.

“While we’re still concerned about the environmental impact of the balloons, the reality is acquiring helium in today’s day and age given some of the challenge and some of the production of it is really challenged and it’s been hard to get,” Alberts said on an episode of "Sports Nightly" back in May of 2022. “And so we’ve been asked by the university that the helium we are getting as a university we need to use for medical purposes at [University of Nebraska Medical Center] in Omaha. And so, we are this year not going to be providing the red balloons for the first time at Memorial Stadium.”

Nebraska Cornhuskers athletic director Trev Alberts
Aug 30, 2023; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers athletic director Trev Alberts before the match against the Omaha Mavericks at Memorial Stadium. / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

The Nebraska alum and former linebacker added that the logistics would be "too difficult" to continue to fuel the tradition. The balloon release had also come under criticism for environmental concerns. In 2021, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln student government voted on their support to end the tradition in November. Additionally, in 2016, a Nebraska man filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming the balloons posed a health hazard to young children and wildlife after they return to the ground.

Alberts had added that the school had been "working really hard" to find an alternative, stating that a digital representation of the balloons on Memorial Stadium's video boards could be a possibility.

A red Nebraska Cornhuskers balloon floats down onto the field during a play against the Michigan Wolverines
Oct 9, 2021; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; A red Nebraska Cornhuskers balloon floats down onto the field during a play against the Michigan Wolverines in the third quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports / Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

The tradition began back in the 1960s, although some records state the releasing of red balloons after the first touchdown began in the 1940s. Balloons were handed out to fans outside of Memorial Stadium and were to be released into the Lincoln sky following the first touchdown by the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska's next home game comes against a traditional rival - the Colorado Buffaloes - on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

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Austin Jacobsen

AUSTIN JACOBSEN

Austin Jacobsen is a radio broadcaster and former Sports Director in Central Nebraska. He has seen the Cornhusker state from all corners; growing up in the Panhandle, completing his college degree in Kearney, working in the rural Sandhills, and now residing in Omaha. Austin is a statewide, regional, and national radio award winner and can usually be found at a high school football field on Friday nights and tuning in to the Huskers wherever they travel. If he is not on the road, Austin enjoys movie dates with his girlfriend and their dog, Ava.

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