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The “Sellout Streak” in jeopardy?

Bummerbry

Bummerbry

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Sep 16, 2013
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They’re saying, once again, the sellout streak is in jeopardy. It seems like about this time every year this comes up! I just wonder is it really even still alive and do we all really even care about it anymore?

Year by year back in the day, when the tickets didn’t sell our corporate partners would buy the leftovers and give them to their employees and their families and/or donate them. As of late when they don’t sell they sell them to ticket brokers for pennies on the dollar.

I mean it’s a nice thing to hear being mentioned on every home game broadcast but is it something we still care about when we can’t even compete for conference titles? Do we even believe it’s a real thing when we know corporate partners and ticket brokers have helped keep it going? Is it really important considering there’s probably little chance anyone ever breaks the existing sellout streak?

All that said, between you and me, I am not sure it’s a real thing anyway considering my first game ever (UCLA 1983) I got in with a group or 4-5 people and we had one ticket!
 
Bummerbry said:
They’re saying, once again, the sellout streak is in jeopardy. ... I just wonder is it really even still alive and do we all really even care about it anymore?
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Whatever you think about it, it's one tangible sign (of many) that Nebraska has the greatest CFB fans in the nation.

Is it important? I guess it depends on what value you think there is for CFB fans throughout the country to hear the TV announcer say, "Welcome to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska where a record XXXth straight sellout crowd -- a streak that goes back to 1962 -- will watch today's match-up between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and..."

Universities learned a long time ago that media mentions equals big bucks. Advertising firms are able to put specific dollar values on it. That's why most schools are forced to invest serious money that you could argue should be reserved for the school's academic programs into their athletic programs. (DONU has one of the few Athletic Departments that is annually in the black and gives some of its money each year to the academic side of the house.)

Once upon a time, Nebraska football was the undisputed king of college football. Whatever the hell Husker fans think of the sellout streak today, it seems to me its one of our remaining 'claims to fame' worth keeping around if we can.
 
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To me it's not particularly important because of the corporate dudes stepping up and buying those tickets. Having said that, I understand what Fumble is saying and it really is kinda cool when the announcers start talking about "the Streak". So, I'm kinda split personality about it all.
 
It was nice when it was a real streak with actual butts in seats. Now, it's a fake corporate streak that means nothing. What matters to me is Nebraska being taken off the "irrelevant football team" list and getting our butts back on the national radar for college football.
 
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Whether it’s real or whether we like it and want to keep it going is probably going to be irrelevant if the team itself doesn’t become more relevant in the B1G and in college football as a whole. The older generations experienced and participated in the sellout streak when were at the top of the game whereas the younger generations have not.

I wonder what it means to non-Husker fans when they hear the streak being discussed. Do they have respect for it or do they shrug it off because the team isn’t as respected as they once were.
 
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Bummerbry said:
I wonder what it means to non-Husker fans when they hear the streak being discussed. Do they have respect for it or do they shrug it off because the team isn’t as respected as they once were.
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I think it garners serious CFB respect when non-Husker fans hear it. All of the 'real or fake' discussions are strictly among Husker fans.

Nobody else cares. Beyond us, it's just an interesting CFB factoid. But that doesn't mean Nebraska fans shouldn't strive to keep it going.
 
Doc Fumble said:
I think it garners serious CFB respect when non-Husker fans hear it. All of the 'real or fake' discussions are strictly among Husker fans.

Nobody else cares. Beyond us, it's just an interesting CFB factoid. But that doesn't mean Nebraska fans shouldn't strive to keep it going.
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Disagree with you on this, Doc. I live in an area that has a variety of CFB fans living here and during the season when I'm at the various watering holes around town the streak is routinely mocked by other fans. Couldn't really care about that though.
 
I'm not hard core we need to keep the streak going. But it is a cool piece of history. Honestly while I do see some empty seats occasionally in Memorial Stadium - compared to other stadiums we are still a fanbase that shows up for games. I do wonder as the current core of season ticket holders ages out....if we'll be able to continue that level of attendance at games. I hope we do.....but it might be much more dependant on if Nebraska fields quality teams and the level of opponent being played on any given week.

I'll leave you with a Neil Peart lyric about the passage of time:

"WHEN WE ARE YOUNG
WANDERING THE FACE OF THE EARTH
WONDERING WHAT OUR DREAMS MIGHT BE WORTH
LEARNING THAT WE’RE ONLY IMMORTAL —
FOR A LIMITED TIME"
 
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The Streak is very important, and here's why.
Everybody talks about their fans being the best in the country. How do you quantify such a claim? You can go with decibels off a meter, but that goes up and down from game to game, depending on the matchup. The sellout streak is our biggest claim to being the best fans in the nation. So what if a few minor games have a few empty seats, have you seen other teams' attendance? As their fortunes rise and fall, their attendance does too. There are plenty of unsold $10 tickets in the B1g every year. At least we sell all of ours.
I think we should downplay a few empty seats in unimportant games and as we return to national prominence we will become the darling of American College Football fans. Everybody loves a redemption story and ours will be epic. Loyal fans waiting a generation for their beloved Huskers to return to national prominence. The once haughty but now humbled program that crawled and fought past humiliation after humiliation is finally rewarded. Stories about how gracious we are to visiting fans and teams will be talked about and applauded. The state in the middle of nowhere where the 3rd largest population is Memorial Stadium on Saturday in the Fall.
You thought The Odyssey was an epic? Watch what happens here.
 
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Pavlov's Dog said:
The state in the middle of nowhere where the 3rd largest population is Memorial Stadium on Saturday in the Fall. You thought The Odyssey was an epic? Watch what happens here.
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Liked your post x 1000, Pavlov's Dog!!! :thumbsup:
Jimbosc said:
I do wonder as the current core of season ticket holders ages out....if we'll be able to continue that level of attendance at games.
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A friend was grousing to me that he wasn't guaranteed playoff seats for baseball and softball as a season ticket holder. His seating depended upon his 'donor priority' level. Really??? Does loyalty mean anything any more? To me, this type of action, along with the reseating that's going on with volleyball is incredibly short-sighted.

I used to sit in the balcony in East Stadium but a few years ago they 'upgraded it' and informed me I could keep my old seats with a $4000 annual donation. Sorry but IMO, that's BS. Funny, I'm one of those idiots who takes my seat when the stadium opens. I notice that nowadays the last sections to fill up before the game are the balconies. No, no, I'm not bitter. ;)
 
For the reasons many have said above, the streak gives me serious “participation trophy” vibes. The fans did their best but ultimately couldn’t keep it going, so a bailout happened (who know how many times) that propped up their ego.
 
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ramelbm said:
For the reasons many have said above, the streak gives me serious “participation trophy” vibes.
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The amount of derision the sellout streak gets from some fans is -- for me at least -- pretty strange.

From my point of view, it's akin to weekly stadium attendance numbers. Should I roll my eyes every sold-out football game I attend when the "official" number is announced? Do they really count every single ticket and everyone who is on the field and in the press box? Can I depend on that number -- be it a Nebraska game, other college games, or the NFL -- being "REAL"???

I mean, come ON, people, how do we REALLY know there was EXACTLY 92,003 at Memorial Stadium for the world record volleyball match? Damn, if only I'd gone down there that night, the number would've been 92,004!!!

When all is said and done, it's an advertising gimmick--and, frankly, a damn good one. So as Husker fans, WHY poo-poo it??!?? It's like saying, "Well, technically, Nebraska was only co-national champions in 1997."

I guess it's one of those discussions where I'm like, 'okay, whatever, dude.'
 
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