"The Sea of Red" | |
 Memorial Stadium in 2007 | |
 Interactive map of Memorial Stadium | |
| Full name | Tom Osborne Field at Memorial Stadium |
|---|---|
| Address | 600 Stadium Drive Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Elevation | 1,150 feet (350 m) |
| Owner | University of Nebraska–Lincoln |
| Operator | University of Nebraska–Lincoln |
| Type | Stadium |
| Capacity | 85,458 (2017–present) List
|
| Record attendance | 92,003(volleyball – Aug. 30, 2023) 91,585(football – Sep. 20, 2014) |
| Surface | FieldTurf(1999–present) AstroTurf(1970–1998) Natural grass(1923–1969) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | April 26, 1923 |
| Opened | October 13, 1923 (1923-10-13)(102 years ago) |
| Renovated | 1967, 1994, 2000,2026 (planned) |
| Expanded | 1964, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1999, 2006, 2013 |
| Construction cost | $482,939 (original structure) ($8.91 million in 2024[1]) |
| Architect | John Latenser Sr. Ellery L. Davis |
| Project manager | Earl Hawkins |
| Structural engineer | Meyer & Jolly[2] |
| General contractor | Parsons Construction |
| Tenants | |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers football (NCAA /FBS) (1923–present) | |
| Website | |
| huskers.com/memorial-stadium | |
Memorial Stadium, nicknamed "The Sea of Red," is anAmerican football stadium on the campus of theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln inLincoln, Nebraska. It primarily serves as the home venue of theNebraska Cornhuskers football team and hosts the university's springcommencement ceremony.
The university began planning a new stadium complex shortly afterWorld War I to replaceNebraska Field, an outdated venue that housed the program from 1909 to 1922. After a lengthy fundraising campaign and several design iterations, construction began in mid-1923. The unfinished Memorial Stadium opened on October 13, 1923, dedicated to honor Nebraskans who served in theAmerican Civil War, theSpanish–American War, and World War I. The stadium was built with grandstands along its east and west sidelines; its capacity of 31,080 was unchanged until end zone bleachers were installed decades later. Major expansions of East, West, and North Stadium between 1999 and 2013 raised capacity to 85,458 and completely enclosed the original superstructure, which remains largely intact. Attendance regularly exceeded 90,000 in the past, though proposed future renovations will likely reduce capacity.
Nebraska has sold out410 consecutive games at Memorial Stadium, an NCAA record for any sport that dates to 1962. In 2023, Memorial Stadium hostedVolleyball Day in Nebraska – the announced attendance of 92,003 was a stadium record and the highest ever recorded for a women's sporting event. The venue's listed capacity of 85,458 is thirteenth-highest amongcollegiate stadiums and twenty-fifthworldwide. Memorial Stadium is often listed among the best venues in college football.[3][4]
In 1909, theUniversity of Nebraska constructedNebraska Field on the corner of North 10th and T Streets in downtownLincoln, the school's first permanent football venue.[5] Nebraska Field's wooden bleachers and limited seating capacity meant that after less than ten years there was significant momentum toward the building of a larger steel-and-concrete stadium. The abrupt departure of highly successful head coachEwald O. Stiehm andAmerican entry into World War I delayed the project, but when the war ended in 1918, with "the present athletic field as inadequate now as the old one was in 1907," the university began planning a new stadium on the Nebraska Field site.[5]
College football exploded in popularity after the war and enthusiasm for a new stadium was high, with many suggesting it be named for former team captain Roscoe Rhodes, who was killed inFrance in 1918.[6] The Nebraska Memorial Association was formed to fund and plan the "Nebraska Soldiers and Sailors Memorial," a million-dollar stadium complex that included a gymnasium, a museum, veterans' facilities, and extravagant Roman-stylecolonnades wrapping around the north and south end zones.[7] The state set aside $250,000 for the project and another $150,000 was gathered from students and faculty, who were encouraged to "give until it hurts."[7] Each county in the state was assigned a fundraising target based on its alumni population. The pledge drive received public backing and financial support from several notable alumni:John J. Pershing, commander of theAmerican Expeditionary Forces who was thehighest-ranking general inUnited States Armed Forces history;Cy Sherman, a sportswriter and future founder of college football'sAP poll; andKārlis Ulmanis, then-Prime Minister (and futuredictator) of Latvia.[7]
An agricultural depression through the early 1920s forced the state to back out of its commitment, and fundraising difficulties and local resistance meant most extraneous elements of the stadium project were scaled back or removed (a gymnasium, theNebraska Coliseum, was constructed three years later).[8]John Latenser Sr. ofOmaha andEllery L. Davis of Lincoln were selected as head architects as they offered to workpro bono, a significant boost to the cash-strapped Memorial Association.[7] A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on April 23, 1923 when the fundraising target of $430,000 had been met, but higher-than-expected contractor bids pushed the price tag over $540,000 and required further design revisions.[8] After taking out a $300,000 loan to cover pledges that remained unpaid, the Memorial Association accepted a $482,939 bid from Parsons Construction Company.[7]
The contract between Parsons and the university required the stadium to be ready for the upcoming 1923 season, reflecting assurances made by the Memorial Association during fundraising. Parsons' employment of university students and prospective football players during construction was applauded by NU chancellor Samuel Avery.[7] Work continued through a rainy summer and an August tornado, and was mostly complete in time for Nebraska's first home game, though lead builder Earl Hawkins insisted fans not be allowed into the unfinished upper sections.[8] On October 13, Nebraska defeatedOklahoma 24–0 in the first game at the new stadium; it was played on dirt as the grass field had yet to be installed.[a][10] The venue was formally dedicated a week later as "Memorial Stadium" to honor Nebraskans who served in theAmerican Civil War, theSpanish–American War, andWorld War I.[b]
.png)
In its original layout, the stadium was oriented north-to-south (Nebraska Field had been oriented east-to-west) with open end zones and grandstands along the east and west sidelines.[5] A quarter-mile track surrounded the playing field. Each corner of the stadium was given an inscription from philosophy professorHartley Burr Alexander:[11]
Memorial Stadium's first significant expansion was in 1964, when permanent seats were added to the south end zone, turning the stadium into a 44,829-seat horseshoe. The north end zone was enclosed in two stages from 1965 to 1966, raising capacity to 62,644, over double what it was two years prior. A new press box was constructed in 1967, replacing a "shoebox" that was among the country's worst press facilities – the $500,000 project was financed by selling VIP seating for the first time.[12] The south end zone was expanded further in 1972, raising capacity to 73,650.
In the early 1980s, portable lighting was occasionally used to allow Nebraska to host late afternoon games, typically onBlack Friday against rivalOklahoma. The first night game at Memorial Stadium was a 34–17 victory overFlorida State on September 6, 1986, after whichBobby Bowden swore off any further trips to Lincoln.[13] Permanent lighting was not installed until 1999.
In May 1993, a 439-seat section collapsed into Memorial Stadium's southwest tunnel. This section was originally designed to be removable so NU could host track meets (the track encompassing the playing field was still usable but had long been hidden from view by bleachers); though nobody was injured, athletic directorBill Byrne admitted the university had done a poor job maintaining its facilities and ordered more frequent structural examinations.[14][15] Subsequent inspections revealed Memorial Stadium not been properly inspected in twelve years and identified over thirty areas to be addressed, though the venue was still considered structurally sound.[14]
The playing surface was dedicated as "Tom Osborne Field" in 1998, months after Osborne's retirement from coaching. The following year, Nebraska finished a $36-million expansion of West Stadium – additions included a new press box and a large concrete facade overlooking Stadium Drive andInterstate 180. The north end zone was renovated and expanded in 2006, adding six thousand seats and thirteen luxury boxes to raise capacity to 81,067.[16]
In 2010 the university polled fans about a proposed East Stadium project – the most-supported option was a modest seating expansion designed to protect Nebraska's NCAA-record sellout streak.[17] The $65-million project was completed in 2013, adding over six thousand new seats and increasing capacity to 87,147.[18] It included Memorial Stadium's first standing room-only section and two 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) research facilities, one dedicated to athletics and one to campus research. The original East Stadium superstructure was preserved within an entrance lobby, with a statue of former head coachBob Devaney in front of the new facade.[19]
Memorial Stadium has undergone only minor updates since the 2013 expansion, designed to improve fan comfort and experience. A publicWi-Fi network and extra videoboards were installed, with two screens wrapping around the existing structure to allow visibility for fans in North Stadium seated under the primary videoboard. Bleacher seats were widened from eighteen to twenty-two inches in several areas, reducing capacity to 85,458.[20] A brick pattern was added to the base of West Stadium to match the appearance of the rest of the stadium and surrounding academic buildings.
In October 2023, Nebraska unveiled plans for the reconstruction of South Stadium, which has never undergone any extensive renovation. The project would result in a 360-degree main concourse and a 270-degree upper concourse, with a significant capacity reduction due to the replacement of bench seating in East and West Stadium with larger chair-back seats. South Stadium's demolition would result in the temporary loss of 23,000 seats. The project cost was estimated at $450 million, with half coming from university sources and half from private funding.[21]
In the spring of 2024, the renovation was reexamined in light of budget projections following a proposedNCAA settlement allowingrevenue sharing between schools and student-athletes. The revised project was to first focus on revenue generation, with work tentatively scheduled to begin after the 2025 season. The potential teardown and rebuild of South Stadium was put under review, but athletic directorTroy Dannen maintained it was an integral part of the project.[22] In November, Dannen stated that the South Stadium renovation had been pushed until after the 2026 season.[23] To help alleviate a university-wide budget deficit and fund the project, regent Barbara Weitz jokingly suggested constructing acolumbarium beneath the football field.[24] In August 2025, Dannen announced, in light of the deficit, that the project had been placed on hold indefinitely.[25]
Memorial Stadium was largely unchanged for over a decade after its 1923 opening. By the mid-1930s the university began planning additional facilities along the stadium's north end zone, butGreat Depression financial struggles made it difficult to acquire the necessary land in adjoining neighborhoods.[26] Excavation for a standalone football facility began in 1939, aided by funding from theWork Projects Administration.[27] The building was partially complete when progress was halted byAmerican entry into World War II, but was far enough along that the locker rooms could be used. The Schulte Fieldhouse was completed in 1949, featuring a large analog clock overlooking Memorial Stadium's north end zone that was among the first crowd-facing game clocks in college football.[28] The building was named for former football and track and field coachHenry Schulte, who died in 1944 while construction was paused.[26]
The Schulte Fieldhouse was used by the program until 2004. It was razed to make room for the Osborne Athletic Complex, a $50-million locker room, strength and conditioning, and administrative facility constructed adjacent to Nebraska's indoor practice facility, the Hawks Championship Center.[16] A statue of Osborne andBrook Berringer, a Goodland, Kansas native and former backup quarterback who was killed in a 1996 plane crash, was installed at the main entrance of the complex.[29]
Barely a decade after completing the Osborne Athletic Complex, Nebraska's football facilities already lagged behind other major programs in terms of size and amenities.[30] In 2024, the university finished the Osborne Legacy Complex, a $165-million, 315,000-square-foot facility and moved the bulk of its athletic operations to the standalone complex just northeast of Memorial Stadium.
The first game at Memorial Stadium was played on dirt as the natural grass field had yet to be installed.[10] Nebraska played on grass until 1970, when the stadium was fit withAstroTurf, anartificial turf surface glued to a foam-like plastic layer on a six-inch (15 cm) bed of asphalt that was made famous when it was installed at theHouston Astrodome in 1966.[31] The $250,000 AstroTurf project was part of head coach and athletic director Bob Devaney's efforts to improve athletic facilities across the university.[32] Devaney and Osborne used the outfield atBuck Beltzer Stadium, home of NU'sbaseball team, to conduct practices for upcoming road games to be played on grass. This meant the stadium could not have a warning track or permanent fence, and left divots that made fielding ground balls extremely difficult (termed "the bounce of the Buck").[33]
Several iterations of AstroTurf were used at Memorial Stadium until 1999, when Nebraska became the first Division I-A program to installFieldTurf, a lighter synthetic surface designed to more closely replicate natural grass. The FieldTurf surface has been replaced three times, sometimes featuring an alternating light-and-dark green pattern every five yards. NU plans to return to a natural grass playing surface at Memorial Stadium as soon as 2026.[34]
Since 1993, Nebraska's home games have opened with the "Tunnel Walk" as the team takes the field before kickoff, typically to theAlan Parsons Project instrumental "Sirius." The team historically emerged from the southwest corner of the field; the entrance moved to the northwest corner upon completion of the Osborne Athletic Complex in 2006, and again to the northeast corner when the home locker room was moved to the Osborne Legacy Complex in 2023. The Tunnel Walk is preceded by a "Husker Power" chant – half the stadium chants "Husker" in unison and the other half responds with "Power."
Fans at Memorial Stadium have released red helium balloons when Nebraska scores its first points since the 1960s, though the tradition was seen as early as 1932.[35] Global helium shortages and environmental concerns in recent years have threatened the tradition, which was paused in 2012 and 2022.[36]
The Memorial Stadium crowd has historically applauded the visiting team when they exit the field, regardless of the game's outcome.[37]
Nebraska has sold out 409 consecutive games at Memorial Stadium, an NCAA record for any sport that dates to 1962. NU dominated at Memorial Stadium for much of the sellout streak underBob Devaney,Tom Osborne, andFrank Solich, including a forty-seven-game home winning streak from 1991 to 1998 that is among the longest in college football history. The streak has traditionally been a source of pride for the program and its supporters, but has been criticized following Solich's 2003 firing as Nebraska has occasionally struggled to fill Memorial Stadium and been forced to sell bulk tickets to donors and sponsors to keep the streak alive.[38] NU's record during the streak is 326–77.
Most of the stadium's attendance records were set shortly after the completion of an East Stadium expansion in 2013; capacity was decreased in 2015 due to the widening of some bleacher seats. The highest-attended non-athletic event at Memorial Stadium was an August 14, 2021Garth Brooks concert with nearly 90,000 in attendance.[39]
Memorial Stadium has hostedESPN College GameDay seven times; in 2001, Nebraska set a GameDay attendance record that stood for nine years.[40] Nebraska'sstudent section, nicknamed "The Boneyard" after theteam's starting defensive unit, is located in the southeast corner of East and South Stadium.
| No. | Attendance | Date | Winning team | Losing team | Event type | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 92,003 | Aug. 30, 2023 | No. 4Nebraska | 3 | Omaha | 0 | College volleyball |
| 2 | 91,585 | Sept. 20, 2014 | No. 24Nebraska | 41 | Miami (FL) | 31 | College football |
| 3 | 91,471 | Sept. 14, 2013 | No. 16UCLA | 41 | No. 23Nebraska | 21 | |
| 4 | 91,441 | Aug. 30, 2014 | No. 22Nebraska | 55 | FAU | 7 | |
| 5 | 91,414 | Sept. 17, 2016 | Nebraska | 35 | No. 22Oregon | 32 | |
| 6 | 91,255 | Sept. 27, 2014 | No. 21Nebraska | 45 | Illinois | 14 | |
| 7 | 91,186 | Nov. 22, 2014 | Minnesota | 28 | No. 21Nebraska | 24 | |
| 8 | 91,185 | Aug. 31, 2013 | No. 18Nebraska | 37 | Wyoming | 34 | |
| 9 | 91,140 | Nov. 2, 2013 | Nebraska | 27 | Northwestern | 24 | |
| 10 | 91,107 | Nov. 1, 2014 | No. 17Nebraska | 35 | Purdue | 14 | |
Since 1996, Memorial Stadium has hosted most of theNebraska School Activities Association'shigh school football state championship games.[41] This includes smaller schools that playeight-man football on fields smaller than standard size; the state'ssix-man football championship finals are played at theUniversity of Nebraska at Kearney'sCope Stadium. Prior to moving to Memorial Stadium, finals for each class were hosted by one of the schools playing in the championship game.
Nebraska will only allow Memorial Stadium to host two days of state football games when it installs a natural grass playing field, tentatively scheduled for 2026.[42]
In June 2026, theSavannah Bananas andSavannah Firefighters, of theBanana Ball Championship League, will play a game in Memorial Stadium two days after a game atHaymarket Park.[43]
On August 30, 2023, Memorial Stadium hostedVolleyball Day in Nebraska, a two-game event which featured three schools from theUniversity of Nebraska system and one from theNebraska State College System.Division IINebraska–Kearney metWayne State beforeNebraska defeatedOmaha in front of a crowd of 92,003. It was the largest attendance ever recorded at a women's sporting event, breaking a record set the year prior in aUEFA Women's Champions League game betweenFC Barcelona Femení andVfL Wolfsburg.[d][45]
The court was set up on the north side of the field but tickets were sold throughout the stadium; the addition of field-level tickets allowed the event to set a Memorial Stadium attendance record.
Memorial Stadium has historically hosted few non-athletic events, though the school has expressed interest in finding ways to make use of the venue year-round.[46]
Memorial Stadium hostedFarm Aid III on September 19, 1987, days after second-ranked Nebraska defeated No. 3UCLA in Lincoln. The ten-hour event, highlighted by Farm Aid organizersJohn Mellencamp,Willie Nelson, andNeil Young, also included performances byJohn Denver,Vince Gill, andJoe Walsh.[47] It was attended by over 60,000 people and raised $1.7 million for farmers struggling during the1980s farm crisis.[47]
Comedian Dan Whitney, performing asLarry the Cable Guy, recorded his 2009 albumTailgate Party in front of 52,000 fans at Memorial Stadium.[48][49]
Country music starGarth Brooks performed at Memorial Stadium in 2021, an event that served as "experiment" to test the stadium's capacity to serve alcohol.[50] Nebraska approved the sale of beer at football games in 2025, the lastBig Ten university to do so.[51]Scotty McCreery performed followingVolleyball Day in Nebraska on August 30, 2023, noting it was the largest crowd he had ever played to.[52] McCreery's Memorial Stadium performance was featured in the music video for his single "Cab in a Solo."[52]
Memorial Stadium featured prominently in the 2005NBCreality televisionminiseriesTommy Lee Goes to College, in whichMötley Crüe drummerTommy Lee attends the university.[53] Lee is seen conducting theCornhusker Marching Band during halftime of Nebraska's 2004 game againstBaylor.
The 2008romantic comedyYes Man features multiple in-game shots of Memorial Stadium. The footage, ostensibly of a game against Oklahoma, was recorded during Nebraska's 2007 loss toOklahoma State.[54] Close-ups of starsJim Carrey andZooey Deschanel cheering for the Cornhuskers were shot at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
40°49′14″N96°42′20″W / 40.82056°N 96.70556°W /40.82056; -96.70556
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
