For this weekend’s NCAA regional at Bowlin Stadium, University of Nebraska softball season ticket holders say donor-based seating rules have pushed them out of their usual reserved areas and into general admission, or even kept them from getting seats at all.
LINCOLN, Neb.. — On game nights when the weather turns ugly. Husker softball fans have built a routine around their seats at Bowlin Stadium.. For the past three years. Tamera. Larry and hundreds of season ticket holders have arrived ready for rain. snow. and biting cold. setting up blankets and settling in to watch Nebraska play from the spots they know.
But for this weekend’s NCAA regional, they say that routine is being broken by a seating system tied to donor status—leaving many to lose their reserved seats and move into general admission, if they can get seats at all.
“It feels like (expletive), are you kidding me? It’s horrible,” Tamera said.
The university says it allocated regional seats based on how much donors have given to Husker Athletics.. The more money given, the higher the priority for ticket purchases.. Season ticket holders who were in lower donor tiers. according to the process. ended up in a lower tier—pushed away from their reserved seating and toward general admission.
Tamera described the experience as taking loyalty for granted. “We come to our little number 11, of course I have to watch the number its 7 and 8. We love our seats,” she said. Now, she argues, loyalty isn’t being rewarded.
“They don’t care, good luck getting a seat in the bleachers,” Tamera said, adding that she is questioning whether she should keep showing up with the same commitment if the athletic department will not.
This is where the fight is now: fans say their support—years of attendance through harsh weather—is being treated like less of a priority than contributions. The athletic department, though, points to what it says is an effort to create fairness and wider access within an inventory constraint.
Tyler Kai, head of revenue generation for the Nebraska athletic department, said the tiered on-sale process is designed to provide equal opportunity.
“This tiered on sale is the most equitable way we can think of allowing every fan an equal opportunity to be able to get into the venue,” Kai said.
He also said there were about a thousand tickets left for the public after season ticket holders had an opportunity to purchase.
Kai said the NCAA requires that 350 tickets be set aside for road teams traveling to Lincoln for the regional. Fans, though, say the larger issue isn’t just road-team allotments—it’s whether their years of season ticket loyalty count for enough when reserved seats are redistributed.
During a one-on-one interview with 10/11 evening anchor Nathan Brennan, Kai also responded to accusations that the department is prioritizing money over loyalty.
“I think that our opinion is we have very generous donors to the athletics department,” Kai said. He pointed to Husker Athletic Fund participation, saying the department has “over 17,000 Huskers Athletic Fund members” who give, including supporters funding softball and baseball excellence efforts.
Kai said the department is trying to balance donor interests with access for season ticket holders who may not donate at the same level. He stressed that the goal is not to pit donors against non-donors.
“I don’t want anyone to think that just because you’re not a donor, you don’t have loyalty,” Kai said. He added that “it’s critically important that we do pay attention to the needs of those donors.”
Kai also addressed a separate concern fans have raised: tickets appearing quickly on secondary marketplaces like SeatGeek and StubHub. He said Nebraska enacted a ticket broker policy a little over a year ago and described monitoring for resale activity.
“It’s a great question,” Kai said. “Secondary ticket activity is increasing not only at Nebraska, everywhere.”
He said the department does not consider it right for someone to buy regional tickets with the “sole purpose” of reselling them.
Kai said Nebraska has identified a handful of people and is working on a communication plan to inform them they will not be eligible to request tickets for potential super regionals. He said the department will continue monitoring during the weekend.
For Tamera and Larry, the immediate reality is simpler: they will move to general admission for this weekend’s regional.. Tamera said it would be difficult for them to sit in grass for hours. and she is looking forward to the Huskers hosting a regional at Bowlin Stadium again—especially if they reach a Super Regional.
Ultimately, both fans said their biggest demand is respect.
Kai said he will keep looking for possible solutions if Nebraska hosts a super regional, but he also expects to keep the same process in place.
The controversy unfolding this week puts pressure on how the athletic department manages access—especially when reserved seats are limited and every seat becomes a test of whether fans feel their loyalty is matched by the system built to reward it.
Nebraska softball NCAA regional Bowlin Stadium season tickets donor status seating policy general admission Tyler Kai ticket broker policy Super Regional