Memorial Stadium cashless for 2024 Husker football season

Husker football fans can plan on leaving their cash at home this season.

Starting this fall, all Nebraska Athletics venues are moving to cashless concessions, a change that also includes Memorial Stadium vendors hawking goods in the stands and the sale of programs and chair backs. Merchandise and ticket sales also will be cashless. All debit and credit cards will be accepted along with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Tickets may not be purchased using Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Haven Fields, the chief operating officer for Nebraska Athletics, said the move is about modernizing operations and enhancing the experience for fans.

“In this day and age, you’re thinking about how you can expedite a process,” Fields said.

Nebraska Athletics also wanted to make operations uniform across all venues, Fields said. Since fall 2021, men’s and women’s basketball games at Pinnacle Bank Arena have had cashless concessions.

With enhanced Wi-Fi in the stadium’s concourse, Fields said going cashless will improve the efficiency and allow fans to move through lines quickly.

During a Monday appearance on the Huskers Radio Network, Matt Davidson, the associate athletic director for event management, said the Huskers are joining sport venues across the country in going cash free.

“This may be a big change for some people, but largely speaking, this is the norm across our industry right now,” Davidson said.

Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen, who was also on the radio, said the change will not only expedite transactions for concessions, but is better from an accounting perspective.

“From a best business practice, the less cash you have, the less opportunity you have for anything bad to happen,” Dannen said.

The cashless move also includes sales from Memorial Stadium hawkers and chair backs and gameday program purchases.

Some Husker fans took to social media to share their concerns ahead of the season opener against UTEP on Saturday.

The majority of concerns focus on the hawkers who are often found moving through the stands selling Valentino’s pizza, Runza sandwiches and bottled beverages.

In the past, fans often have passed cash down the row to the hawker, some of whom let the seller keep the change as a tip. Officials said card readers will be passed to fans, and tips for hawkers can be placed on the card readers.

“We’ll work with fans as best we can to be able to get to them, to make the transaction, to be able to get exactly what they want,” Fields said.

Other concerns from fans include not having access to a smartphone or debit and credit cards. To help with the transitions to a fully cashless stadium, Fields said fans will be able to purchase a gift card with cash to use at concessions for the first four football games. The pre-loaded cards will be available in the concourse on the east and west sides near guest relations.

In the event of an internet outage, Fields said the stadium still will provide fans a way to purchase items.

Some fans on social media welcomed the changes and commented on the potential benefits, such as making the process easier and faster as concessions won’t have to count change or handle cash.

Other fans said that while they don’t favor the cashless operations, they are used to other venues in the NFL, NBA and MLB going cashless.

Other changes fans should be aware of include a transition to mobile ticketing, updated gate screening, Wi-Fi access, team arrivals and sideline locations and the ticket office relocation.

This fall will be the last season printed tickets will be issued for Husker athletic events. Starting with the 2024-25 winter sports season, tickets for all events will be mobile only. Dannen said volleyball and football will be the last two sporting events with physical tickets as they make the switch for the 2025 season.

Most fans won’t have to empty out their bags, remove hats or jackets while visiting Memorial Stadium anymore. Davidson said the majority of entrances are utilizing a new gate security screening through a company called Evolve Express.

The clear-bag policy will remain in effect, but Fields said the new screening process will allow the thousands of fans to walk straight through the sensors without emptying pockets, bags or blankets.

FanXP Wi-Fi will no longer be accessible in Memorial Stadium seating. Nebraska Athletics encourages fans to move to the stadium concourses if they need Wi-Fi connectivity.

The renamed Husker Legacy Walk, a pre-game ritual, has a new stadium arrival route for the football team. About two hours and 15 minutes prior to kickoff, the team will arrive near 14th and Vine streets, walk on the sidewalk alongside the Coliseum, through the Athletics Hall of Fame and enter the main lobby of the Osborne Legacy Complex.

The Osborne Legacy Complex will close to the public on gamedays.

The Huskers previously announced the team will move to the west sideline with the visiting team on the east sideline. There is no change to the Tunnel Walk, with the Huskers entering from the northeast and the visiting team entering from the southwest.

The ticket office has relocated to West Stadium. On gamedays, it will operate at Gate 10A (northwest corner).

Fans can still go to Gate 21 (East Stadium) to troubleshoot issues with their tickets.

Fans can visit https://huskers.com/gameday for more information regarding gameday.

Journal Star reporter Justin Diep contributed to this report.