‘We’ve never had this before’: Volleyball Day will add to fall business boom in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Husker game days make Memorial Stadium, standing alone, the third-largest city in Nebraska.

And soon, it’s going to happen for the sport of volleyball.

“We’re all very excited,” said Joey Rupp, general manager of Best of Big Red, a Husker gear shop. “I mean, we’ve never had this before. It’s just a great thing.”

SEE ALSO: Dead & Company show inspires John Cook’s vision for Volleyball Day in Nebraska

On Aug. 30, players will put on a show in front of 90,000-plus fans.

“The fan hype is just enormous in Nebraska,” Rupp said.

She said being so close to campus draws in lots of business.

“Game days are absolutely crazy down here, where it’s wall-to-wall people,” Rupp said.

SEE ALSO: NU Board of Regents approves alcohol sales for Volleyball Day in Nebraska

With that added event at Memorial Stadium set to bring people to the city, local businesses are setting up for large crowds.

“I treat it like a home football game, where I will double my staff than I would have, or even triple my staff,” Rupp said.

And the Husker shop is not alone in doing so.

The Mill will be adding to its numbers for the days to come.

“We definitely staff up,” co-owner Dan Sloan said. “We’re not doing any special events down here. I think there’s probably enough of that going on already. We’re just ready to support and support the activity.”

SEE ALSO: Scotty McCreery performing after Nebraska volleyball’s match at Memorial Stadium

Scoops owner Mike Bretta said that if this rush is anything like the Garth Brooks concert, he’ll be sure to have plenty of people on hand.

“With the volleyball and the football coming up, I’m expecting to be slammed,” Bretta said.

SEE ALSO: Over 80,000 tickets sold for Nebraska volleyball’s match in Memorial Stadium

And Husker fans are not the only boost to sales at this time of the year.

Students moving back to town this week are also adding to business.

“We get everybody in here, but the students are really a big part of our existence,” Sloan said. “They just inject so much kind of vitality and life and variety into it.”