Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson continues to follow through on his promise to make Nebraska football more fan-friendly. This time he has announced plans to host a free pregame party for Husker fans.
Pederson's first fan-friendly initiative came earlier this year when he announced that football season-ticket prices, which had increased in each of the last five years, would be reduced by an average of $1.75 a game this season. Pederson, a Nebraska alum, was hired by the university late last year after Bill Byrne left the athletic director's post for a similar job at Texas A&M.
The pregame party concept is similar to a fan area that Pederson and his staff created while he was athletic director at Pittsburgh. The difference is that the Husker-fest will be much bigger.
The party, dubbed the Husker Nation Pavilion until athletic department officials get a corporate sponsor to attach its name, will be held at the Ed Weir Track facility, next to Memorial Stadium.
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| Plans for the Husker Nation Pavilion center on the Ed Weir Track facility. |
The outdoor facility can hold up to 20,000 people and at every home game will feature live music, face painting, skills contests, a 12-by-18-foot big-screen television, a stage from which the pregame radio show will be broadcast, food vendors, autograph areas, a large tented area and more.
The Husker Nation Pavilion is a way to bring Nebraska fans together, said Marc Boehm, senior associate athletic director. The area will open two hours before the game and will remain open throughout for any non-ticket holders who want to stick around and watch the game on the big screen.
Boehm estimated that the pavilion will cost more than $20,000 a game. Food sales, sponsorship sales and sales of corporate hospitality tents will help the department recoup costs, Boehm said.
The department is shopping presenting sponsorship rights to the pavilion, which will include significant signage and on-air mentions during television and radio broadcasts, for $250,000 a year. Corporate hospitality tents, which would include a catered meal and tickets, range from $5,000 to $25,000 a game.
PENN STATE CAMPAIGN TOPS $134 MILLION: Penn State wrapped up its seven-year Grand Destiny capital campaign this month with the athletic department raising more than $134 million.
The original goal was $90 million. That figure was revised partway through the campaign to $125 million and was surpassed by 7 percent for a total of $134.17 million raised.
The money has been used to establish 207 new scholarships/endowments, help pay for the renovation and expansion of Beaver Stadium and help fund more than $40 million in other athletic facility construction.
TEAMING UP AT NCAA: The NCAA is merging its public affairs department with its branding, broadcasting and promotions department to form a single department called branding, broadcasting and communications.
The merger, which will take effect this week, does not reduce the staff size of either department.
Merging the two makes sense because both groups are "intricately involved" in the advocacy of the NCAA, said NCAA spokesman Jeff Howard. Combined, the new department will have 68 staff members — 36 from public affairs and 32 from the broadcasting, branding and promotions group.
Contact Jennifer Lee at jlee@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
