'Grumpy' ticket holder decries big money in college sports

For nearly 30 years, I’ve been a season ticket holder for Nebraska volleyball matches.

I also used to cover the sport.

I was around when then-Coach Terry Pettit was begging football fans to attend volleyball matches after watching a football game.

Way back in the day (years before I caught the volleyball bug) loyal fans used to set up their own folding chairs so they could watch a match.

Fast forward to today. Home volleyball matches in Lincoln have been sold out for years, making it harder for new fans to attend matches despite the move to the Devaney Center, which doubled the tickets available.

Nebraska’s volleyball program has won five national championships, and is regularly in the top five teams in the country. Team members are celebrities and now, internet darlings. Little girls in the state grow up dreaming to be Huskers.

And, oh yeah, don’t forget the incredible Memorial Stadium match in 2023 when 92,000 eager fans packed the football venue. It set a record for the most fans to attend a women’s sporting contest.

To say that the success of women’s volleyball has been incredible is almost an understatement. And this fall, the Huskers will again be one of the favorites to win it all.

But now, loyal fans like me are being asked to step aside so people who have more money, and give more money to the university, can choose the best seats in the house – the ones where fans like me used to sit.

It’s called “reseating” and the NU athletic department describes it as an attempt to “embrace the evolution of intercollegiate athletics and find ways to preserve our financial model.”

In plain English: “college sports is a big money enterprise, and we need to cater to the people who give the most money.”

The big donors, mostly those giving to football and other sports, have been allowed to pick season tickets (up to six each) since early June. I get to wait until July 13, and can only choose up to four.

This is despite being a regular contributor to the athletic department, faithfully giving the suggested contributions to keep our two seats.

Our seats were great. We felt like we were part of the match, and responded loudly. Now, we’re looking at the nose-bleed sections, in the darkened, upper reaches of the arena, far from the action.

Some friends who used to share our seats have backed out, saying it’s not worth it. Others I know gave up when the reseating was announced last year.

On some level I understand what’s going on. College athletics has become a big-money enterprise, and now that athletes are being paid, big money needs to be raised.

But it stinks that loyal fans, including those who used to set up their own chairs for matches (you know, the ones who “all stick together, in all kinds of weather”) are being shoved aside.

I complained about this so much that the NU athletic director (to his credit) called me to talk me off the ledge.

He calmly explained that since players can now be paid, and can earn extra money through “name, image and likeness” deals with companies, Nebraska needs more money to compete.

I appreciate that the university is getting creative, and using assets like Memorial Stadium to earn extra money by staging concerts, “Banana Ball” and even some goofy golf game inside Memorial Stadium.

Reseating is now planned for football, basketball and softball, so it’s not just faithful volleyball fans being impacted. I felt especially bad for softball season ticket holders, who sat through some pretty chilly and wet early games this year, but when it came to the NCAA tournament, had to move to the bleachers so bigger donors could sit in the front row.

When I write stuff like this, part of me is whispering, “boy, you’re getting old and grumpy – give it a rest.”

But the rest of me is thinking this is just sad – sad that, in one more place, it’s all about money.

Maybe they should change the words in the fight song.

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I’m also sad about the passing of Paul Fell, a masterful cartoonist, who I was honored to have collaborated with every week in this corner of The Paper. What a talented guy, always upbeat and full of wit. Draw well in that art studio in the sky my friend.

Paul Hammel has covered the Nebraska state government and the state for decades. He is a retired senior reporter for the Nebraska Examiner and the former Capitol Bureau Chief for the Omaha World-Herald. A native of Ralston, he loves traveling and writing about the state.