omaha4LSU

There are some more economical hotels in Bellevue (suburb to the south). Look at the Microtel or Holiday Inn Express. I would NOT stay in the hotels on Fort Crook Rd, stay on Hwy 370 (near the Microtel, there's also a Hampton and an extended stay of some sort), or the Holiday Inn is by Walmart on about 15th ST. Both are close to Hwy 75 to get to Omaha, it would be a 15 min drive to downtown Omaha (if you don't get in the middle of the rush).
Another thought would be the Comfort Inn by the zoo, near where Rosenblatt used to be.

I live in Omaha, have gone to games for years. As teams get eliminated, there are more tickets available and prices drop quickly. You can buy from the NCAA ticket exchange which I thought was flashseats.com, but the webpage says it's now LINK . Or you can go through brokers like ticketexpress or redzonetickets, both have offices in Omaha. There are ALWAYS people selling tickets outside the stadium, I don't know how sophisticated any counterfeit operations may be on that, I haven't tried that. I've used the NCAA exchange before, and at least in past years, you just show up at the ticket office, show ID, and get your tickets there. Not much chance of those being bogus. There is a lot of info at www.cwsomaha.com

The Storm Chasers tried to negotiate, but the expense was prohibitive and Sarpy County proposed building their own smaller stadium that they would have priority in, so... Werner Park is used for some high school games and they've had a few concerts too in order to support it. And the Storm Chasers have had pretty decent success in the more intimate, kid friendly stadium on the opposite side of town.
TD Ameritrade is home for Creighton baseball. You can have an entire section to yourself at most of those games, except when they play UNL. They also had a music festival there the last two years but had it the end of July when the heat is BRUTAL out there with no shade. Some of the acts were on stages in the parking lots. Except for the headliners who played in the evenings, you could count the people attending on your fingers. I think they've given up.

Speaking as someone from Omaha, there isn't NEARLY as much tailgating as there was at Rosenblatt. There are a few isolated empty lots, not even sure how you go about reserving those. There are a few hardy people trying to do it in the parking lots, but you have to look hard to find a tree. With hotels across the street from the stadium, I think most just pick one of those and go to the bar. We've heard how disappointed the Old Market was because they expected CWS crowds after games, but the fans all just went back to their hotels. I heard there were people who found homes north of the stadium where they could park RV's and tailgate, but honestly, that's a kind of scary part of town, I personally wouldn't risk it.

I live in Omaha. The new stadium is downtown so you usually have to park in lots, some of the Creighton University lots are available as are other business lots. There is some street parking but not a lot. The bulk of the fans from out of town do stay in the hotels that are adjacent, no parking worries, but FAR less tailgating than at Rosenblatt. Traffic is less of a problem since so many can just walk from their hotel rooms, so I would personally say if you don't care about walking back and forth, that staying a distance away won't be a big issue. It's a completely different atmosphere than Rosenblatt, more mellow and kind of aloof. I sincerely hope the return of the LSU Tigers will help change that back to the old ways! Omaha loves LSU!

I also wanted to say that yes, Omaha misses LSU. Yes, partly because you are fun. But mostly because your teams are good and your fans treat our city like a good guest should, with respect and courtesy. That is NOT true of all schools, I can attest to that. It is so easy to get behind LSU when we genuinely like you! Both of my daughters wear LSU shirts to the games, they are teenagers, I'm not dressing them that way. They chose to show that we miss you, as do so many other Nebraskans.

I hope you are right. For the record, here are the RULES for the MECA lots which are pretty much just for season ticket holders... LINK
I just didn't see many people even trying to tailgate. They do admit they are turning a blind eye to the alcohol as long as there aren't problems. Maybe one of the hotels will let you tailgate in their parking structure!
I heard that up by 13th and Nicholas that an LSU fan had a half million dollar RV with awnings and restaurant style racks for the dishes, bought hay to spread around the RV... I haven't seen it, but apparently there are places you can go to tailgate. It's kind of a creepy part of town, though.
Thought of a few other things I miss... The LSU guy who threw the beads - haven't seen him this year (he was here last year). The ballgirls - no more net or booing the ballgirl. There is HUGE foul territory, so not many balls come into the stands.
If you've watched on TV, the crowds aren't filling the place. The season tickets are sold, but the people aren't coming. True, the weather has been yucky (either really humid and hot, or drizzling like today), and the flooding and backed-up sewer smell doesn't help.
They are dismantling Rosenblatt, the auction is tomorrow for anyone who might want anything. You can bid online. Honestly, I find it incredibly tacky that they are auctioning trash cans, brooms, urinals, etc. Go to www.rosenblattauction.com if you are interested.

There are some tickets available at the box office each day for that day's games. Office opens at 10 for days with afternoon games, noon for days with only evening games. You need to get there early and stand in line. And then there aren't many tickets available. Supposedly, they have tickets "turned back in" (by other teams, or season ticket holders, I don't know...) I've never managed to get any that way, they go fast.
For the first 12 games, Ticketmaster sold 1000 reserved seats back in about March or April. At that point, you have no clue who will be playing much less the match-ups. Just dates and times. Those were gone within an hour or so of the time they went on sale. That's how I got tickets to 3 games. Two sets were in Section A, right in the sun, breeze blocked by the Stadium club, and sun reflecting off that glass. Holy Mother Of God, it was hot, and I'm FROM this area, I know what hot is! The other set was in section X, spitting distance from lf GA. Not so miserably hot, but too far away to have a prayer of seeing the ball.

I think we should have called the NCAA's bluff. I don't think they'd have moved the CWS. There was another option to renovate Rosenblatt (I think the big deals are more restrooms, real bullpens, more room in the concourse...), and it would have been much cheaper.

There is an over-riding political agenda here to revive the riverfront, to not let it degrade further. The politicians USED the threat of losing the CWS to do this. The meetings were all done behind closed doors. The people who don't go to baseball games were all brainwashed into believing that we'd lose the CWS if we didn't do this, and we can't keep pooring money into Rosenblatt. Those who have actually been to Rosenblatt know the difference.

Now, we'll be footing the bill for a brand new stadium used for 2 weeks out of the year. The Omaha Royals are having their own, smaller stadium built SW of the Omaha Metro. No one can afford the rates that the city wants for using the new place, not the Royals, not Creighton University... So it's gonna sit empty outside of the CWS. It will be a big, concrete tomb for baseball.

Then there's the fact that the Olympic swim trials are going to overlap, I believe the very first year. The trials will be at the Qwest, drew enormous crowds last time. God save you guys trying to drive to the stadium. I work in the downtown area, and I'm dreading it!

The parking at the Qwest and new stadium - you have to pay the parking fee even just to go in and buy tickets. It's all about money there.

I WISH THE TEAMS INVOLVED WOULD PETITION THE NCAA TO NOT MOVE IT! They can still fill in the hole in the ground, nothing has been built so far!

The Omaha W-H also has a service where they'll print a particular article on card-stock or similar paper so it can be framed. At least a year ago, when I had something reprinted, they did that. I can't remember what that costs.