Ahead of fall sports, Nebraska AD Troy Dannen talks NIL, Memorial Stadium project and more
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Director Troy Dannen met with the media Friday to talk about the state of the athletic department.
He began by recognizing the success of last year’s teams.
“Competitively, I think we had five sports finish in the top 10,” Dannen said. “Bowl champion, Crown champion and a couple of Big Ten champions. It was a really good year competitively, and there’s a lot to celebrate.”
Off the field, the student-athletes compiled a 3.46 GPA, which is a record at Nebraska, according to Dannen. The school also added 11 more Academic All-Americans.
Financially, the athletic department set two records, with 17,663 donors and more than $70 million in total donations.
Dannen also boasted about the attendance for women’s sports at Nebraska.
“The women’s four — which is volleyball, softball, basketball and soccer — our attendance last year was 337,000 in women’s sports,” Dannen said. “That’s second in the country, which is pretty remarkable. South Carolina was ahead of us, and LSU was right behind us.”
When you add football, men’s basketball and baseball, Nebraska had an attendance of 1.3 million, which was seventh in the country and second in the Big Ten behind Ohio State.
“An attendance of 1.3 million in a state that has two million people is pretty remarkable,” Dannen said. “Just a credit to the fans.”
Looking ahead to this season, Dannen had plenty to say about the state of the athletic department.
He mentioned the transition to a new food provider at Memorial Stadium, saying more than $7 million has been invested into the change.
“We had a little bit of a trial run during the scrimmage last Saturday night, and everything went as smoothly as it could be,” Dannen said. “[Aramark has invested in] kitchens and different ways to distribute concessions to enhance the fan experience as much as possible.”
SEE ALSO: NU regents approve new concessions provider at Nebraska sporting events
Dannen also talked plans to expand the capacity in Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Center.
Once the winter sports season is over, new seats will be added to expand the arena’s capacity to 10,200.
The lower bowl in the arena will also get chairs with seat backs, with an exception to one end of the area where the students will sit.
One of the main focuses internally for the athletic department this season is event planning.
Two out of three people have already been hired for an events crew that will focus on generating revenue for the athletic department.
Dannen said the university needs to make the most of Memorial Stadium, plus the 10,000 seat Devaney Center and 16,000-seat Pinnacle Bank Arena.
“We have to start thinking entrepreneurially,” he said. “The days are past when we can rely on seven home football games and then shutter the stadium. We have to find ways to generate revenue.”
Dannen said the Memorial Stadium project is “status quo.”
He said that in a normal time, everything that has been planned with the stadium so far would be happening without anyone knowing it.
But amid the university’s financial stress, further plans to renovate the stadium are being put on hold.
“We’re continuing to look at east, west, north and south in totality,” Dannen said. “This week, the chancellor sent out a note talking about the structural deficit of the university. The president has spoken about some of the systemwide financial issues. There’s going to be a lot of trauma ahead. We’re not going to take anything to the board for their approval, and I don’t know when we will.”
Dannen said, “The time is not now in the midst of what I would almost level some degree of crisis.”
“But we will continue to work on the plans,” Dannen said. “We will continue to fine-tune the financial model and whatever point in time I think we can comfortably take it back [to the board] we’ll take it back.”
Dannen talked about the recent U.S. House settlement that allows athletic departments to pay student athletes directly.
SEE ALSO: Federal judge approves $2.8B settlement, paving way for US colleges to pay athletes millions
He said Nebraska will pay the full $20.5 million that it’s allowed to pay all of its athletes.
Dannen said football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and volleyball are allocated a cash pool from that $20.5 million.
But he wouldn’t break down the numbers on how much cash is going to each sport.
He went on to explain that the coaches get that money, and they decide on contract terms with the individual athletes.
“That’s why we have GMs,” Dannen said. “That’s why everybody has moved to the GMs because there is now a strategy in how they are allocating those resources. Not to mention the fact that nearly every athlete has an agent.”
Soccer, wrestling, baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s track and field will have additional scholarships.
“I bring that up because additional scholarships count against that $20.5 million total,” Dannen said.
There will be 16 extra scholarships this year, and that number will keep growing.
“I think the long term is [to figure out] how scholarships count against the cap,” the athletic director said. “We’ve made the conscious decision here to allocate cash and not allocate scholarships before cash.”
Dannen said the $20.5 million comes from the reduction of operating expenses.
He said the athletic department eliminated 27 positions. Starting last fall when this settlement looked imminent, the athletic department stopped filling positions, according to Dannen.
“At the end of the day, I think we eliminated seven active positions,” Dannen said. “The other 20 positions had been vacant, and we just eliminated them off our books. That was $2 million to $3 million of savings from those positions.”
Dannen said nearly $5 million from alcohol sales, revenue from the Big Ten and the gain in resources from the development staff will allow the athletic department to dish out $20.5 million without cutting any budgets or raising ticket prices.
It was really interesting to hear @Huskers Athletic Director @TroyDannen speak on the House Settlement and the allocation of funds to #Husker athletic programs.
Football, Volleyball and Men’s and Women’s basketball will be a part of the 20.5-million-dollar cash pool. pic.twitter.com/UZlCqO8XJ4
— Nate Johnson (@n8_johnson_) August 8, 2025
You can watch the full press conference below:
