Nebraska is trying to keep up with the Joneses, even before moving into the Big Ten, home of massive football stadiums at Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.
Nebraska announced plans Friday for a $56 million expansion to Memorial Stadium that will add 5,000 seats and luxury suites.
The proposed expansion is for the east side of Memorial Stadium, which will increase Memorial Stadium’s attendance to more than 90,000, that according the school’s Web site.
The stadium’s current capacity is 81,091, while Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State all have capacities over 100,000. Nebraska currently holds the nation’s longest sellout streak dating to 1962 at 307 games.
Athletic director Tom Osborne said the additional $17 million in revenue generated by the new seating is needed to keep Nebraska competitive.
“We believe now is the right time to build on the success of the Nebraska football program as it transitions to the Big Ten conference,” Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said in a statement. “We need to find ways to generate additional revenue for athletics as well as for the university at large.”
The added seating will be broken down by 2,000 to 2,200 seats in club seating, approximately 400 to 500 seats within approximately 30 new indoor/outdoor suites, and approximately 2,500 to 2,800 new general seats.
The total projected cost is $55.5 million with $40.5 million to come from private donations and the remaining $15 million from bond revenues.
Construction could be complete by the fall of 2013.
