Businesses in the Haymarket prepare for a full capacity Husker game day

There's nothing quite like the roar of the big red on Husker game days. It's something businesses missed last year in the midst of the pandemic as Memorial Stadium and downtown Lincoln was a little more quiet. 

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) -There’s nothing quite like the roar of the big red on Husker game days. It’s something businesses missed last year in the midst of the pandemic as Memorial Stadium and downtown Lincoln was a little more quiet.

“I think that first weekend that there was no fans outside, it was surreal. To look outside, some of the bars and restaurants had set up outdoor tables and chairs and to see them empty, if you remember it was rainy and cold. To see those empty tables and chairs was just literally surreal,” Barb Ballard with From Nebraska, said.

Financial analysts say off site spending for Husker football games is around $5 million, so not having those fans filling the seats last year had a major impact.

Thankfully, places like From Nebraska in the Haymarket were able to keep revenue flowing through online business, but they expect the first game back to bring a boom of business.

“This is going to be great to have the sea of red back. We just can’t wait,” Ballard said.

She said having the Garth Brooks concert gave them a glimpse of what this season could look like for downtown businesses.

“We saw a lot of people that were waiting for their restaurant table to be opening thank goodness for texts and the beepers now. So, we’d see people that we wouldn’t have probably seen they just came in to eat and then go to the concert,” Ballard said.

As they work to prepare staffing and have everything stocked up, Ballard said there’s something special about being in the heart of it all in the Haymarket.

“Just people watch. It is the best to just sit out on our dock and just see all the people, people hootin and hollerin. Just being excited to be back into the big red atmosphere,” Ballard said.