When it comes to the sale of beer, wine and spirits at Big Ten football stadiums, a familiar refrain rings true. There is no place like Nebraska. This fall, with beer sales set to begin at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the addition of four new schools to the conference, and with Northwestern University working alcohol sales into its plan for a new stadium, Memorial Stadium remains dry.
Nadine Ault sells beer during Volleyball Day in Nebraska on Aug. 30, 2023, at Memorial Stadium. It's a distinction — along with being the only Big Ten Conference member that is not currently affiliated with the Association of American Universities — that University of Nebraska administrators have noticed.
"We are quickly becoming a club of one," said Chris Kabourek, NU's vice president for business and finance. "We need to ask ourselves why we're 1 of 18." Since 2012, when the University of Minnesota became the first Big Ten school to sell beer during college football games, more and more members have also taken a similar leap.
A vendor sets up a beer stand before a football game between Iowa and Indiana on Sept. 4, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa began selling beer at its football games starting in 2021.
Ohio State University and the University of Maryland turned on taps at games in 2016, with a larger wave of schools coming between 2019 and 2021, culminating in the switch being made at Michigan and Wisconsin earlier this year. NU officials have said a .
