The publicity people at Wyoming get right to the point when touting the magnitude of No. 9 Nebraska’s first visit to Laramie on Saturday.
“Wyoming-Nebraska Is Most Anticipated Game in UW Football History” blares the headline on the school’s athletic website. That history covers 115 years and 1,038 games.
The Cornhuskers (3-0) are 22-point favorites over the Cowboys (3-0), and the game won’t garner much attention nationally unless the unthinkable happens. It’s the event — not so much the game itself — that has the locals buzzing.
All 1,800 of the Laramie area’s motel rooms for this weekend have been sold out since May, and tourism officials said towns within a 100-mile radius are benefiting from the economic impact of the Big Red invasion.
“The net effect of the Huskers coming to our humble little town here is beyond huge,” said Gordon Crow, president of the Laramie Area Chamber of Commerce. “We were blown away two years ago when Texas came in. That put the economy over the top. The Huskers bring an even greater impact.”
War Memorial Stadium, where temporary seating installed for this game has increased capacity from 29,181 to 32,000, will be the smallest venue Nebraska has played in since 1971 at Hawaii.
“I’m sure it will be full and it’ll be a good crowd,” Cornhuskers coach Bo Pelini said. “As far as I know, the field is the same size, and that is what matters to us. Our fan base will be well represented out there.”
Laramie is a two-hour drive from the Nebraska border, so it’s more convenient for Big Red fans in western Nebraska to see this game than to attend a home game six hours away in Lincoln. And almost half of the 4,300 Wyoming alumni in Nebraska live in the 11 counties closest to the Cowboy State.
Yes, this is a tough ticket.
More than 8,000 Huskers fans are expected in the stadium, and Wyoming officials are preparing for another 2,000 without tickets to show up and watch the game on a big screen that will be set up across the street in Tailgate Park.
Wyoming sold a record 10,714 season tickets this year, undoubtedly because Nebraska is on the schedule. Cowboys athletic director Tom Burman said the Cowboys will generate $1.1 million in ticket revenue for the Nebraska game compared with about $400,000 for other home games.
