Big Red Business: Is it tear down time for Nebraska's South Stadium?

Recent Big Red chat room chatter: “I can't wait for the day the stadium will be "COMPLETE".... meaning the South Stadium totally replaced, new concessions, bathrooms, concourse that goes all the way around, south tied into the east and west sides, suites........I'm ready.”

So are many others.

Is this the time to accelerate plans to reconfigure and update the south side of Memorial Stadium, which has changed little since a 1972 expansion?

To do it right, experts say fans would not be able to sit in those end zone seats for at least an entire season if the stands were to be taken down and rebuilt to accommodate wider concourses, more bathrooms, concession stands and roomier seats, not to mention suites.

HuskerOnline has addressed those issues before, but that was pre-pandemic.. Now? Well, this could be the time to attack it, especially if there is no football season or one with fans disguised as empty seats inside Memorial Stadium.

At least on paper, “it makes a ton of sense,” said Jim Rose, an Omaha marketing executive and former Nebraska football play-by-play announcer and fundraiser in the athletic department’s development office.

But that doesn’t mean a project of this scope jibes with reality in a coronavirus climate.

Among the hurdles: Would there be enough financial support from donors who have already been asked to write big checks for about $100 million to pay for the new athletics training and locker room project?

Would the university’s top administration and the Nebraska state house sign off in a period of extreme budget distress? And what would that say about the university’s priorities?

Would another athletics project going up in tandem with the new $155 million athletics training complex be in the best interest of the university right now? How would fans feel about possibly being displaced for a season, or perhaps permanently?

While a fast-tracked South Stadium renovation and reconfiguration is at best a pipe’s dream now, so much is changing day-to-day and week to week. Who really knows what the future holds for college sports even after the last embers of the pandemic are snuffed out.

For the record, the athletic department has stated numerous times that a renovation of the south end zone seating is a priority, and plans have been discussed. But, officially, that’s down the road.

The focus for now, in terms of facilities, is to break ground this summer on the new athletics complex tied into the north end of Memorial Stadium on the site of the former track and field stadium. Though no date has been set for the first dirt to be turned, donor support has held steady, according to the athletic department, and the project is expected to be completed before the 2022 season.

But say you’re a loyal season ticket holder in the south stands who’s watched the improvements and amenities added to the east, west and north sides. When will south stadium get its turn?

Here are some of the hurdles facing an accelerated renovation of the south side of Memorial Stadium.

The challenge starts with the financials.

Even at Nebraska, which runs one of the nation’s few profitable, self-sustaining athletics programs, there’s only so much money to meet the wants and needs.

Typically, construction projects of this scope are layered with revenue bonds. Easing investors’ minds, those bonds are secured by money generated from ticket sales and seat donations. That’s the easiest piece of the financial puzzle.

As for the rest of the funding, the big cash would have to come again from private donors. But how would you like to make the ask in this economic climate? It’s far different from when supporters wrote the checks for the 350,000-square-foot athletics training complex. Would donors pony up again and so soon?

Donors are most receptive and enthusiastic when they understand the mission of a big project.The athletic department’s challenge, said Rose, would be to “convey why we need this south stadium expansion now.”

There’s also money earmarked in the athletic department budget for capital projects, but the rest of the funds would likely need to come from the rainy day account managed by the Nebraska Foundation.

Athletic director Bill Moos said recently that the savings account currently holds about $60 million. Not too long ago, according to sources, the foundation account was valued at well over $100 million. But the reserve has been eroded in recent years to cover firing and hiring payments to coaches, and to meet expenses for other recent athletics facility improvements.

The rainy day account would also wisely need to be tapped to cover at least the temporary loss of $50 million plus in Big Ten revenue sharing money for a year, along with merchandising, marketing, and all the other revenue generators. from the big three sports --football, women’s volleyball, and men’s basketball -- and the other men’s and women’s program.

Rose recalled how former Nebraska athletic director Bill Byrne had a financial plan prepared in the 1990’s on how to keep the athletic department afloat for one full year in the event of zero revenues coming in.

Byrne’s doomsday scenario was probably more along the lines of a natural disaster, such as a tornado damaging part of Memorial Stadium. But a pandemic?

Imagine two major athletics projects going up at the same time and both associated with football.

In times like this, “it would give you pause to move forward,” said Rose. “It would be harder to sell (to university leadership, the governor, and state legislators) when dark clouds are overhead.”

Bigger picture, the number one priority for Moos, his leadership team, and university staff from top to bottom is to ensure the campus is safe to reopen for all students.

“It is very important for Bill and his senior staff that the athletic department be a part of campus, not being apart from campus,” Rose said. “They are not going to do things that serve only their best interests.”

If the athletic department were to trim the number of seats in the south end zone over the coming year as part of a plan to reduce Memorial Stadium’s overall capacity down from about 85,458, how would it be done?

Put another way, say you want to trim 9,000 seats from the south stands, which 9,000 seats will go and how will you deal with those fans being displaced?

How would you like to be the fan who has been sitting in the south end zone and loyally supporting the football program since 1972 -- only to get a letter saying you’re losing your seats?

“You must have a strategic plan and message in place,” Rose said.

The most recent upgrades to east west and north sides of Memorial Stadium have largely been accomplished during the off-season without dislocating fans during construction or afterwards. In some cases, fans had the choice of making seat donations to stay where they were, or move elsewhere in the stadium.

“The main point is that in all of our stadium expansions or improvements is that no customers were eliminated from having access to season tickets,” said Keith Mann, an athletic department spokesman. “Some may have had to move to a different location in the stadium, but generally in close proximity to their previous location.”

There are also infrastructure issues. For example, the south side of Memorial Stadium is home to the visiting team locker room, which would suddenly need a new home. Where would you go?

The same with another South Stadium tenant -- the June and Paul Schorr III Center for Computer Science and Engineering, which is rigged for computer capacity and eats up considerable classroom and event space. A new building and location would have to be figured out for them as well.

“It’s a little more delicate than just moving office furniture out,” Rose said.

Steve Rosen writes about the business of sports for HuskerOnline. Questions, comments, story ideas? Reach Steve at sbrosen1030@gmail.com.