Dave Feit: Not Like This

Sellout streak is thrown a lifeline, but deep discount is hard to swallow

Craig Chandler photo, Nebraska Communications

There is good news and bad news regarding the Memorial Stadium Sellout Streak.

The good: According to Eric Olson of the Associated Press, Nebraska Athletic Department officials expect the 60-year streak of sellouts to make it through the end of the 2022 season, reaching 389 consecutive games.

The bad: A donor bought "2,100 tickets at a bulk rate of $10 each."

C'mon, Trev Alberts. I know we all want the Streak to continue forever and ever.

But not like this, Trev.

Not like this.

***

A year ago, I wrote that it was time to let the sellout streak die. I feel these two sentences best summarize my position:

    But the reality is the Streak - once a symbol of loyalty created and maintained by a devoted fan base - is now like a beloved 18-year-old family pet: deaf, blind, and unable to move without being carried.
    We think we are honoring the Streak by continuing to prop it up, but the real dignity would be in letting it go peacefully.

I stand by every single word of that piece today.

***

It seems likely* that the donor who received the 85% discount on tickets will donate them to the Red Carpet Experience - a program that helps underprivileged youth attend Nebraska sporting events.

*I say "likely" because while I assume that is the plan, I have not seen it reported. Personally, I love the mental image of a guy buying an entire section of a sold-out stadium and sitting all alone in the middle of rows of empty bleachers. It's the best way to ensure personal space inside the stadium.

Like I said a year ago, the Red Carpet Experience is a wonderful program that is worthy of support. I absolutely love the idea of the next generation of die-hard Husker fans being born because somebody gave them tickets. I have zero issues with people donating tickets to people who otherwise might not be able to go to a game.

The Red Carpet Experience can - and should - continue when the Streak officially ends.

***

I'll be honest: the deeply discounted "bulk rate" of $10 per ticket is hard for me to swallow. I already feel like I'm overpaying to get into the stadium. If Nebraska is so desperate to sell out the stadium, why are season ticket holders still paying so much to get in?

Sure, as a season ticket holder, I am technically paying a discounted rate. The seven home games cost me $60 each. If you bought full-priced tickets from Huskers.com, you'd pay a face value of $70 for Indiana & Illinois, and $80 for Minnesota and Wisconsin. Of course, the season ticket price does not include any "donations."

I'm a penny ante booster, giving $250 for each of the two tickets in my name. This "donation" allows me to purchase tickets in the end zones in rows 61 or above. The seats I have now are decent. They're not great, or even good: they're decent. But If I want to sit closer, I need to bump my per-seat donation up to $500.

Or . I could drop my season tickets, buy tickets on StubHub, and put that $250 "donation" toward my pregame bar tab.

I intended to talk more about this in December, but here's a teaser: between ticket price and donation, I pay $95.71 per game to sit 61 rows up in the south end zone. For essentially the same price, I could sit on the 50-yard line every Saturday.

The Streak limps on, but the tickets are devalued.

***

I guess I shouldn't be upset. This is probably (likely) how the Streak has been maintained for decades. Somebody from the Athletic Department calls up Bob Booster or Connie Corporate Sponsor and asks them to help. To legitimately sell the remaining tickets, NU works out a discount or other quid pro quo arrangement.

Maybe I should be praising the Athletic Department for their transparency. They're showing us how the hot dogs are made. The problem is I now have less desire to buy another one - especially at full price.

Maybe we should also praise the boosters and corporate sponsors who have gotten us this far. On behalf of Husker fans: we thank you. But what if you shifted your focus over to NIL deals that can help bring in better players and/or properly compensate the ones who are here?

I don't want to tell people how to spend their money, but $21,000 toward an NIL package for a four-star offensive lineman seems like a better use of funds than being able to say you singlehandedly secured sellout number 387.

***

Here's the sadly ironic part: Nebraska is really close to going on a run of legitimate sellouts. Let's look ahead:

Last three home games of 2022: Maybe I'm underestimating the number of tickets left to be sold, but I can't help but think Mickey Joseph's turnaround could inspire sellouts without resorting to deep discounts. As I type this, there's a chance that Illinois could come to Lincoln ranked, with control of the West Division race on the line. The prospect of potentially beating Minnesota and Wisconsin should be enough get the streak to 389.

2023: The two home nonconference games (Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech) are tough draws, but the current Big Ten home schedule (Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland and Iowa) is excellent. Plus, excitement for the new full-time head coach should help demand. Selling out the 2023 season will be a challenge, but it's doable. If so, the Streak would reach 396 games.

2024 & 2025: Schedules are likely to change, but as of now the 400th consecutive sellout would be against Ohio State on October 12, 2024. Expect Memorial Stadium renovations to be in full swing by that point. Details have not been announced, but NU president Ted Carter said the project will be like "repairing and rebuilding an airplane while we are flying it."

In the short term, that means tens of thousands of seats likely will be unavailable as construction occurs during the 2024-25 seasons. When the project is done, Memorial Stadium will have a smaller capacity, possibly under 75,000. I suspect most (if not all) of the plank bleachers will be replaced with chairback seats. I have some other ideas on how NU can make Memorial Stadium a more desirable destination than your couch, but we'll get to those in the future.

By 2026, Memorial Stadium should be a more comfortable and enjoyable place to watch a game. Assuming the new coach has the program moving in the right direction, ticket demand could once again be greater than supply. The Streak could conceivably get to 425 or even 450 games.

And they shouldn't need fire sales to make it happen.

***

I would hope this is obvious, but I feel I should say it anyway: Nobody is going to catch Nebraska's sellout streak. Forbes magazine called it back in 2019. It's over. No college football team will ever sell out more consecutive games than Nebraska. We are the all-time champions.

Notre Dame was in second place (273, over 100 behind NU), but they allowed their streak to end in 2019. Guess what? They still have passionate fans, get great recruits and win football games. Among active streaks, Oklahoma is currently in second place at 144 games. If Nebraska allowed the streak to die at the end of the 2022 season, Oklahoma would need to sell out seven home games per year for the next 35 years to catch NU. Our legacy as the most loyal, passionate, and greatest fans in college football is secure.

There's no shame in letting go of the Streak. It doesn't mean Nebraska fans failed. It doesn't mean we no longer care.

The passion of this fan base has endured for over 60 years. It has survived good times and bad. We have witnessed some of the greatest coaches the game has ever known … and some other guys that fell short. We've watched exciting wins, painful losses, and everything in between. Throughout it all, we showed up every dadgum week.

And guess what ...

We'll continue to show up even if the ticket office has a thousand tickets they couldn't sell. Because that's what we do better than any other fan base in the country. We. Show. Up.

Your age is a number, it does not define who you are or what you are capable of.

The same holds true for Nebraska's sellout streak. It's a number, but it does not need to define this fan base.

The same passion exists if the Streak is at 388, or if it is at 2. I’d rather that passion be authentic, instead of purchased in bulk at an 85% discount.

---

Get your Huskers tickets from SI Tickets here.

---