Troy Dannen shares Nebraska's 'standing offer' to Bud Crawford

If Omaha native and professional boxer Terence “Bud” Crawford is ever seeking a fight venue in his home state, he needn’t look further than Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

Crawford has a standing offer to come and fight in the 90,000-plus seat venue on Nebraska’s campus, according to Cornhuskers athletic director Troy Dannen. Speaking with HuskerOnline, Dannen shared that he’s been in contact with Crawford’s people.

“I’ve reached out to Bud’s people about him fighting in the stadium,” Dannen said. “There is a standing off there. A boxer’s world is unique as to when they fight and where they fight. So if it works, it works.”

A high-profile boxing match in Memorial Stadium would also fit with plans to expand the use of the facility, Dannen said.

And those designs go beyond just the Nebraska athletic department, as across the Big Ten plans are being discussed about using stadiums more than just for football games, Dannen said.

“But we will plan our budget, long term starting next year, we’ll have two events in the stadium a year,” Dannen said. “And whether it can be a mega event that sells out 90,000, it really depends on who’s touring. From a music standpoint. But even doing 30,000 seat shows with up and comers who then, the second time around, they’re selling the stadiums out. We need to get into that. I know the Big Ten is working on maybe a Big Ten stadium tour where we could actually book, in the Big Ten, an act that would eight, nine, three Big Ten stadiums and just work around. So there’s a lot of — we have to be really creative about how we use the stadium, not just seven days a year.”

And there is one act Dannen would love to book, though he’s not certain it’s going to happen any time soon.

“If my daughter had her way, yes, we would have Taylor Swift,” Dannen said. “My guess is Taylor Swift will not be making the rounds for stadiums for a little while but we’ll see her again and try to be on that list, trust me.”