Stryker Pregame Perspective: Radical Surgery for Memorial Stadium

Survey shows two-thirds of Husker football fans support tearing down South Stadium and doing a complete rebuild

Oct 6, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers fans cheer during the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

We all know that beer is coming to Memorial Stadium for the 2025 season. The Board of Regents decided that Friday.

What we don’t know is whether there will be any other significant changes at the century-old stadium anytime soon. That’s the subject of today’s pregame survey.

On a hot, windy day before Nebraska played Rutgers, I surveyed Husker fans on campus, most of them quite close to the stadium. My question: “What improvements, if any, should be made at Memorial Stadium in the next two to three years?”

I did my best to summarize three main viewpoints about this topic, and I asked respondents to vote for one of the three:

A. None. The seating and amenities are fine. We’ll soon have beer and it’ll keep selling out as long as the team is competitive. Donors should spend their money on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

B. We just built a multimillion-dollar Osborne Legacy Complex. Find a midlevel-cost solution for a stadium upgrade. Make a few key improvements, but don’t tear down South Stadium for a full-fledged rebuild.

C. If you’re going to upgrade the stadium, do it right. The 17-inch bench seating is too narrow and outdated. Tear down South Stadium and rebuild it with a big video board, better seating, more restrooms, easier access and move the students closer to the field. There’s enough donor money to do this and fund NIL.

Because of the nature of the question and the length of the three responses, I decided to let people read them before voting. That took a considerable amount of time, so this survey was answered by only 70 fans instead of the usual 100.

The outcome was more decisive than I figured it would be. About two-thirds (65.7 percent) voted for C, by far the most expensive, inconvenient option, at least in the short term. In second place was A, the cheapest, most convenient short-term option, whih received 21.4 percent. Trailing the field was the moderate response, B, which drew 12.9 percent of the support.

Obviously the main controversy around Trev Alberts’ plan for the a stadium upgrade was the proposed demolition of South Stadium and replacement with a steeper-pitched double-decked effect with wider chairback seats, more legroom and plenty of space for concourses, restrooms and escalators. Total seating capacity would be reduced noticeably. There would be at least one season, and possibly two, with no South Stadium, which likely would mean high school-style temporary bleachers would be used.

People who favored A said things like:

“Compared to other stadiums around the country, this is pretty darn good already.”

“That’s the reason Trev Alberts left, right?”

“I want a team that wins. I don’t care about the increasingly loud piped-in music and the silly games they put on the video boards.”

People who favored C said things like:

“The seats need to be improved. We're competing with couches for people who watch at home.”

“We need more restrooms.”

“It feels too boxed-in right now. I want to be able to walk around the stadium.”

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