Reseating equals revenue for Nebraska in the new world of college athletics

Nebraska Athletics will eventually undergo a reseating process for season ticket holders in three big sports: volleyball, football and men’s basketball. Sean Callahan, publisher of Husker Online, reported the basketball reseating news and said many schools regularly evaluate season ticketing. Nebraska has been an “outlier” in keeping prices the same.

“I think we've had tickets at Pinnacle Bank Arena for all 13 years, and the price points have stayed the same, as far as what you have to give for seats,” Callahan said.

The volleyball ticketing process is underway now. Those seats are going quickly, with the best spots costing thousands of dollars in donations, plus the actual cost of the seat for the whole season.

“It's our understanding that you had to be at a $12,500 annual giving level to get a seat for volleyball in the lower 100-200 levels,” Callahan said, “so it has put in perspective how hot some of these tickets are going to be, especially lower bowl basketball and maybe some of the more premium football seats as well.”

With high demand, some fans worry a donation won’t lock up their desired seat.

“You're just throwing money recklessly, almost, into a pot, hoping and praying that you'll get the seat you hope to get,” Callahan said.

Some fans would rather have an explicit price listed for tickets, he said.

Matt Brown publishes a newsletter called Extra Points that reports on the new world of college sports. He said schools are under pressure to come up with $21 million to pay athletes directly under the House Settlement agreement.

“What Nebraska does isn't necessarily what Clemson or Stanford or BYU will do, but everybody is facing pressures to generate more revenue and to cut on other expenses so that they can pay athletes and continue to be financially competitive,” Brown said.

There’s a finite number of options for college athletic departments to raise additional money, he said. And the biggest piece of the pie, TV rights deals, are long-term agreements that don’t change much year over year. That means increasing ticket prices or moving or adding seats is a big way schools can create more dollars.

“The risk here is the same risk that happens in pro sports and many other industries, where entities realize it's more profitable to focus on a smaller number of consumers and charging them more, rather than appealing to a broader base,” Brown said. “And then, you run the risk of pricing out some of your most dedicated supporters.”

Money is a factor, said Tyler Kai, Nebraska's deputy athletic director of revenue. He said reseating is about raising revenue in a new age of college sports and opportunities for new fans.

“We cannot fail to look at the demand of our season tickets and price those appropriately,” Kai said. “It has been a significant pride point of ours that we've renewed at really high percentages, and that is a very good pride point, but it also showcases that we don't have the ability to create clear pathways for new people to get involved.”

Callahan agreed it’s been difficult for aspiring season ticket holders to buy a seat. Kai said Husker Athletics has tried to make donation levels for tickets as transparent as possible.

“For us to be able to pinpoint one dollar amount for what it would take for somebody to keep their seats or secure seats in the courtside sections is really difficult to predict,” Kai said.

He said there are plenty of affordable options, too. In the Devaney Center, upper bowl seats comprise a majority of the seats, because of the way it was built.

“In the Devaney Center for volleyball, more than 60% of the building is an all-in commitment of $500 or less,” the deputy AD said. “So that means between the ticket cost and the priority seating commitment is either $500 or less. That is an incredibly affordable season ticket, considering what we have in the demand for Husker volleyball.”

There are currently 15 home games on the calendar for Big Red volleyball this fall. At $500, that would cost about $33 per seat, per match, though the line of sight may not be great.

Reseating in basketball and football will start after the upcoming 2026-27 sports season. Demand is always in consideration with reseating, Kai said. For basketball, the athletic department is in the early stages of trying to bring more premium seating to Pinnacle Bank Arena.

“We have high demand for seats like our courtside seats or in our club seats to get into the lower bowl,” Kai said. “Very little inventory comes available on a yearly basis in those areas.”

Nationally, college sports fans have shown interest in single-game tickets or “mini packs” that come with seats for a few games, rather than an entire season. Kai said that trend hasn’t trickled down yet, but it’s something NU is monitoring. Still, he hopes reseating will free up a few more single-game tickets purchased through Nebraska Athletics, rather than the more expensive secondary markets.

Volleyball season ticket sales will inform how Nebraska approaches reseating in other sports. About 33% of Devaney’s tickets are still available, mostly at that 300 level, Kai said. Pinnacle Bank Arena has more seating in the lower bowl compared to Devaney, but there are still lessons to be learned.

The decision to reevaluate season ticketing doesn’t stop after this upcoming sports season. Kai said the long-term goal is staying away from using taxpayer or university dollars, which Nebraska Athletics has historically been able to avoid. Ticketing is one of the main ways to continue down that path.

“We will always view that as an opportunity for us to remain very healthy and secure our financial position. We're one of the rare athletics departments that's self-sufficient,” Kai said. “The reason why we are so self-sufficient is because we've had a healthy pipeline of revenue that is coming from the demand from season tickets, and folks making those priority seating donations up until this point.”

NU’s ticketing team is always available to answer questions, he said.

As for how often reseating will occur, Callahan expects the process to happen a couple times each decade.

“The other thing to know is this is going to happen more frequently, like every five to six years,” Callahan said.

Kai said evaluating pricing and making market adjustments “really consistently and on an annual basis,” while also keeping prices affordable is a “tough needle to thread.”