A security guard watches the field among snow-covered cardboard cutouts before Saturday’s Nebraska-Minnesota football game at Memorial Stadium.
Who knew cardboard could generate so much coin?
The Nebraska athletic department said Thursday that it sold more than 6,000 cardboard cutouts for display in Memorial Stadium this fall, and that those sales led to more than $600,000 in revenue.
The cutouts, per NU, came from 47 different states and were displayed around Memorial Stadium and, for those that paid a premium, on the Huskers’ Tunnel Walk path between the home locker room and the field.
Nebraska only ended up playing three home games this year instead of the scheduled four, because an Oct. 31 game against Wisconsin was canceled and this week NU was sent to Rutgers for a cross-division game rather than hosting.
The revenue figure is impressive given the circumstances, though of course it’s a far cry from what a full stadium in a normal year brings in. Nebraska football in the most recent fiscal year reported around $35 million in ticket sales and concessions, which comes out to around $5 million per home game. That’s before broadcast licensing and television revenue, which are both multimillion figures.
Still, athletic director Bill Moos said earlier this week that his department was facing around a $40 million hole this fiscal year due to the coronavirus pandemic’s impacts, so every dollar counts.
Contact the writer at pgabriel@journalstar.com or 402-473-7439. On Twitter @HuskerExtraPG.
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