Northwestern, Nebraska Will Play in Ireland to Open 2022 Season

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Anything to get out of boring Nebraska.
 



Your guys' obsession with Nebraska, are you sure one of you also isn't MplsGopher? (Sorry, had to say it after some poster claimed that since I wrote a post about Nebraska, I must be MplsGopher.)

I like the joke matt. I can understand why the NFL wants to go to Europe, as they would like a presence there. And I can remotely, very remotely understand why Notre Dame would play in Ireland, but Nebraska? Is this just a field trip to try and get recruits? "Hey, come play at Nebraska and in addition to the scholarship everyone else is offering, you get a paid vacation to Ireland each year if you play for us."
 


MplsGopher_fan said:
Your guys' obsession with Nebraska, are you sure one of you also isn't MplsGopher? (Sorry, had to say it after some poster claimed that since I wrote a post about Nebraska, I must be MplsGopher.)

I like the joke matt. I can understand why the NFL wants to go to Europe, as they would like a presence there. And I can remotely, very remotely understand why Notre Dame would play in Ireland, but Nebraska? Is this just a field trip to try and get recruits? "Hey, come play at Nebraska and in addition to the scholarship everyone else is offering, you get a paid vacation to Ireland each year if you play for us."
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It's news about someone in our division. I think the relevance is obvious.
 






MplsGopher_fan said:
What happened to needing to play home games in Lincoln for the covid-ravaged economy?
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Of course they are not the team giving up the home game, NW is. That being said, the Nebraska Pods are referring to the Garth Brooks concert at Memorial Stadium in August as their "8th home game" with the idea that it will bring in 90,000 fans and get them primed for the football season. I am betting that from there, Nebraska will petition the Big Ten to qualify the concert as a scheduled conference win for the sake of Frosty and the "Blue Blood" program that they are...
 

Walter Sobchak said:
Of course they are not the team giving up the home game, NW is. That being said, the Nebraska Pods are referring to the Garth Brooks concert at Memorial Stadium in August as their "8th home game" with the idea that it will bring in 90,000 fans and get them primed for the football season. I am betting that from there, Nebraska will petition the Big Ten to qualify the concert as a scheduled conference win for the sake of Frosty and the "Blue Blood" program that they are...
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😁
 


I'm sure the B1G sees this as a way to "expand their brand." I wonder if they offered this to all the teams in the conference - and Neb and NW were the ones to say "yes" - or if they were targeted for some reason.

Back in 1977, I spent the summer in London for a college program. I was in a pub one night and wound up talking to some guy who had lived in the US for a while. he proceeded to tell me why soccer was a superior game to "American Football." the gist of his argument was that football players are all specialists, while soccer requires all-around athletes. Anyway, I suspect the audience for American Football over there is still somewhat limited.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
I'm sure the B1G sees this as a way to "expand their brand." I wonder if they offered this to all the teams in the conference - and Neb and NW were the ones to say "yes" - or if they were targeted for some reason.

Back in 1977, I spent the summer in London for a college program. I was in a pub one night and wound up talking to some guy who had lived in the US for a while. he proceeded to tell me why soccer was a superior game to "American Football." the gist of his argument was that football players are all specialists, while soccer requires all-around athletes. Anyway, I suspect the audience for American Football over there is still somewhat limited.
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You think the B1G was behind this?

I assumed it was some Neb and Northwestern initiated deal...
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
You think the B1G was behind this?

I assumed it was some Neb and Northwestern initiated deal...
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Me too. The people in Europe know next to nothing about American football and they get even more confused that our sports are tied to athletes in school and not paid players, so I really really doubt anyone over there gives a crap about the Big Ten, or even knows what a collegiate athletic conference even is.
 

Would you give up a home game against NW to play an overseas game? Keeping in mind the possible recruiting pitch we could use to that you'll get to travel to Europe, etc.
 

MplsGopher_fan said:
Your guys' obsession with Nebraska, are you sure one of you also isn't MplsGopher? (Sorry, had to say it after some poster claimed that since I wrote a post about Nebraska, I must be MplsGopher.)

I like the joke matt. I can understand why the NFL wants to go to Europe, as they would like a presence there. And I can remotely, very remotely understand why Notre Dame would play in Ireland, but Nebraska? Is this just a field trip to try and get recruits? "Hey, come play at Nebraska and in addition to the scholarship everyone else is offering, you get a paid vacation to Ireland each year if you play for us."
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We all see what you're doing here...
 

GopherTouchdowns said:
Would you give up a home game against NW to play an overseas game? Keeping in mind the possible recruiting pitch we could use to that you'll get to travel to Europe, etc.
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This is where I think the NCAA needs to step in and say that only bowl games can be played outside of one team's home stadium. I think Harbaugh was doing this as well, before covid. Just like with facilities, if this continues it'll only force other teams to do it and then we'll be sending "student-athletes" all over the world every late August to perform their craft. It's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt and can't fly back with the team and instead has to stay in a foreign hospital, miss the first days of class, etc.
 


Walter Sobchak said:
Of course they are not the team giving up the home game, NW is. That being said, the Nebraska Pods are referring to the Garth Brooks concert at Memorial Stadium in August as their "8th home game" with the idea that it will bring in 90,000 fans and get them primed for the football season. I am betting that from there, Nebraska will petition the Big Ten to qualify the concert as a scheduled conference win for the sake of Frosty and the "Blue Blood" program that they are...
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Funny you mention the concert. I live in Omaha and listen to their ESPN radio channel. There are talks of trying to get concerts integrated into the games. Pre-game, halftime or post game as a way to get students reinvigorated in the program. There are some rumblings they're scared that the current lack of students at games and the lack of winning combined with the aging out fan base is going to leave the stands empty in the next decade or so.
 


MplsGopher_fan said:
Your guys' obsession with Nebraska, are you sure one of you also isn't MplsGopher? (Sorry, had to say it after some poster claimed that since I wrote a post about Nebraska, I must be MplsGopher.)

I like the joke matt. I can understand why the NFL wants to go to Europe, as they would like a presence there. And I can remotely, very remotely understand why Notre Dame would play in Ireland, but Nebraska? Is this just a field trip to try and get recruits? "Hey, come play at Nebraska and in addition to the scholarship everyone else is offering, you get a paid vacation to Ireland each year if you play for us."
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Copying Michigan.
MN-Moose said:
Funny you mention the concert. I live in Omaha and listen to their ESPN radio channel. There are talks of trying to get concerts integrated into the games. Pre-game, halftime or post game as a way to get students reinvigorated in the program. There are some rumblings they're scared that the current lack of students at games and the lack of winning combined with the aging out fan base is going to leave the stands empty in the next decade or so.
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Great Idea. I have wished the same for our Gophers.
 







short ornery norwegian said:
I'm sure the B1G sees this as a way to "expand their brand."
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This is driven by Nebraska. Nebraska and Illinois actually scheduled a game in Ireland for this year, but COVID forced it to be canceled.


GopherTouchdowns said:
Would you give up a home game against NW to play an overseas game? Keeping in mind the possible recruiting pitch we could use to that you'll get to travel to Europe, etc.
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Northwestern is giving up the home game, as was Illinois for the canceled game. I guess its a unique way for Nebraska to "get out" of road games.
 

MN-Moose said:
Funny you mention the concert. I live in Omaha and listen to their ESPN radio channel. There are talks of trying to get concerts integrated into the games. Pre-game, halftime or post game as a way to get students reinvigorated in the program. There are some rumblings they're scared that the current lack of students at games and the lack of winning combined with the aging out fan base is going to leave the stands empty in the next decade or so.
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I could see that being a real possibility. It'd be interesting to see how it works. Coming from the U of M, undergrad in the late '90s, I didn't think any of the goofy stuff the school did attracted the interest of the students. I can't see much benefit of it before the game, since they'd have to be off the field noticeably sooner than kickoff. Even if students were pumped and showed up, there would be that lull before the game where it's just the players on both teams out there stretching and stuff. Most would probably leave to get some drinks in the parking lot and then probably just go back home anyways.
 

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