Advertisement

No more red balloons: Nebraska suspends touchdown celebration due to global helium supply shortage

Nebraska's tradition of releasing red balloons after the first touchdown in Memorial Stadium has been placed on hold, due to a global helium supply shortage.

Trev Alberts, the Cornhusker's athletic director, announced Monday that they will no longer hand out red balloons before home games to be released by fans — a tradition that began more than 60 years ago.

"Acquiring helium in today's day and age, some of the production of it is really challenged, and it's been hard to get," Alberts said on his radio show. "So we've been asked by the university, the helium that we are getting as a university, we need to use for medical purposes at (University of Nebraska Medical Center) in Omaha. And so we are this year not going to be providing the red balloons for the first time at Memorial Stadium."

FILE- In this Sept. 26, 2015, file photo, 

Balloons are released after a Nebraska touchdown against Southern Miss during a 2015 football game in Lincoln, Neb.
FILE- In this Sept. 26, 2015, file photo, Balloons are released after a Nebraska touchdown against Southern Miss during a 2015 football game in Lincoln, Neb.

Environmentalists have criticized the tradition and Alberts says the school is "still concerned about the environmental impact of the balloons," but this decision factors more heavily on the challenge of obtaining helium today. Alberts also shared that the marketing department is working on alternative celebrations.

Contact Analis Bailey at aabailey@usatoday.com or on Twitter @analisbailey.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nebraska suspends balloon touchdown celebration due to helium shortage