NIU is receiving a little help from a friend.

MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher pushed forward a plan to help alleviate some of the costs NIU will incur from the Orange Bowl. Steinbrecher said the MAC is buying 17,500 tickets for NIU students. Each student can get one free ticket. He said he hopes this will increase NIU’s fan base.

“I think a part of building that program is building the fan base and we all in this league need to work hard to continue to grow it, that’s just critical,” Steinbrecher said. “Now, the trick is we’ve got to convert those fans, whether they’re in DeKalb or in Chicago or in Florida or wherever—they are in the country to come down to Miami and to support the Huskies.”

Steinbrecher said he thinks most of the tickets will be sold. Paul Palian, director of media and public relations, said he has already seen this happen.

“They’ve been moving fast,” Palian said. “There’s a tremendous demand for tickets among students, alumni and community members. This is an exciting moment in NIU’s history and we’re doing our best to make it accessible to the NIU community.”

Donna Turner, associate athletics director for communications, said NIU’s trip to the Orange Bowl will hopefully help with recruitment and getting NIU known.

“You have to take into account all the great feelings it brings about among our alumni, and it brings the students together, …great advantages we can use when recruiting new students,” Turner said. “Really, it’s not even so much about making money; it’s about what this does for the university and what a great vehicle this is to tell people about NIU.”

Student package deals were put on sale by NIU on Thursday. The package deals cost $150 and offered a bus ride to and from Miami, a two-night stay in a hotel and some meals, among other things. The package sold out and NIU created a waiting list for those who were interested but had missed the sale. The waiting list was closed at 4 p.m. Friday. Those with questions about the package should contact Student Involvement & Leadership Development at 815-753-1421.