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Alcohol Sales Approved at Memorial Stadium for Saturday's Big Red Preview

Nebraska football fans can enjoy a new beverage at Memorial Stadium while getting their first preview of the 2025 Cornhuskers.
Austin Jacobsen|
Nebraska cheerleaders carry flags across the field after a score against Wisconsin last season.
Nebraska cheerleaders carry flags across the field after a score against Wisconsin last season. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

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Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska football fans will have plenty of reason to enter Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening.

Nebraska athletics announced on social media Wednesday that alcohol sales have been approved for the Nebraska football Big Red Preview set for Saturday, Aug. 2, at 6:30 p.m. CDT inside of Memorial Stadium. The event is set to follow the Fan Day free event running from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. CDT inside of the Hawks Championship Center.

The Big Red Preview will allow Husker fans the chance for many firsts: their first purchased beer inside of the "Home of the Huskers" for a football event, as well as the first chance for spectators to see the 2025 edition of the Nebraska football team in fall camp. The moment was set last year, when the University of Nebraska regents made the policy change to allow alcohol sales at university sporting events.

Nebraska Cornhuskers fans wear Runza hats during the first quarter against the Northern Iowa Panthers
Nebraska fans wear Runza hats during a game last September. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Alcohol sales had already been previously rolled out at other Nebraska athletic venues, including at Pinnacle Bank Arena for men's and women's basketball as well as in Haymarket Park for Nebraska baseball and softball. Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen previously stated that estimated alcohol sales could generate "$3 and $4 million per game" and could reduce "dangerous drinking habits."

Saturday's Big Red Preview will be the first football event at Memorial Stadium to allow alcohol sales. Previously, the 2023 Volleyball Day in Nebraska event and the 2021 Garth Brooks concert allowed alcohol sales from temporary approval by the University. Last summer, the first edition of the Big Red Preview had 3,500 attendees.

For fans hoping to find out the selection available for game days in Lincoln, Dannen stated in the October Regents' vote that “I would expect anything that you can sell in a can.” Philadelphia-based Aramark was awarded the concessions and alcohol contract in February from Husker Athletics, adding to the company's Big Ten footprint along with Iowa, Minnesota, and Washington.

Nebraska football fans can purchase tickets for the Big Red Preview presented by 1890 in person on Saturday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. CDT at the Gate 10 ticket windows located outside the Northwest corner of Memorial Stadium. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. CDT. Fans can enter through Gates 4, 10, or 11. Concessions, including beer sales, will be available on the main concourse of West Stadium and on the field level in North Stadium.

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Austin Jacobsen
AUSTIN JACOBSEN

Austin Jacobsen is a radio broadcaster and former Sports Director in Central Nebraska. He has seen the Cornhusker state from all corners; growing up in the Panhandle, completing his college degree in Kearney, working in the rural Sandhills, and now residing in Omaha. Austin is a statewide, regional, and national radio award winner and can usually be found at a high school football field on Friday nights and tuning in to the Huskers wherever they travel. If he is not on the road, Austin enjoys movie dates with his girlfriend and their dog, Ava.

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