November 2021 • Nebraskaland 41
athletic program. Furthermore, gate receipts had increased
since the ban. Despite Nebraska's winning teams, the 31,000-
seat Memorial Stadium rarely sold out in those days.
"It seems best not to tamper with the set up," a Daily
Nebraskan editorial concluded. The McCook senator's bill
failed to pass, but football fans nationwide were growing
louder in their demands to hear games on the radio.
By 1936 about half of college football teams were still
banning or limiting broadcasts. Nebraska broadcast one game
per season, selecting a likely sellout. (That year it was Pitt.)
Head coach Dana X. Bible wanted to limit broadcasts until
all of Nebraska's facilities were paid off . After that, he said, it
would be worthwhile to look into a commercial deal. By then,
Big Six schools were again free to sign radio contracts. Iowa
State, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri allowed broadcasts
of all home games. Oklahoma and Nebraska did not.
That season, two conferences signed radio sponsorship
contracts with oil companies. The Pacifi c Coast Conference
received $100,000 for the rights to broadcast its conference
games, to be divided equally among its 10 schools. The
Southwest Conference split $14,000 per season among seven
teams.
These contracts sound like low-rent predecessors of
today's network deals, but they got the attention of athletic
departments. The 1937 season saw a 300 percent increase
in the number of college football games on the radio, and
Nebraska's games were among them. From then on radio was
a regular part of a Husker fan's life — and within 5 years, so
was Lyell Bremser. He began calling Husker football games
for KFAB in 1942, a position he had for 42 seasons.
N
Visit History Nebraska's website at history.nebraska.gov.
The 1936 Nebraska Cornhuskers. Head Coach Dana X. Bible (front, center) left Nebraska after the season and spent the rest of
his head coaching career with the Texas Longhorns. History Nebraska RG2758-103-39
Lyell Bremser, right, interviews Nebraska assistant football coach
Gomer Jones in 1946. Histo ry Nebraska RG2183-1946-831-10
