OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Jake Brezinski lives in Alabama now, but bleeds Husker red.
The Omaha native doesn't make the trip up to Lincoln every year, but last year he says he came across an opportunity he couldn't turn down on a message board.
For $1,000, the ticket package offered two suite tickets to the Minnesota or Wisconsin games at Memorial Stadium, an opportunity to meet former players and other perks. All of this to benefit charitable causes tied to the Huskers.
"This opportunity just kind of seemed like something that was too good to pass up," Brezinksi said. "But I guess that's what they say. If it's too good to be true, sometimes it is."
He bought two packages for the Wisconsin game for $2,000, including four tickets. He called his parents and they got a ticket package, too. He said he never got what was promised.
The Nebraska Attorney General's Office says several fans have stories like Brezinski's. It filed a complaint against Nfluence and Kenneth Jason McCants, alleging they violated Nebraska's Consumer Protection Act and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act by selling the "Nebraska Game Day Experience" ticket packages.
Nfluence and McCants claimed proceeds from the sales would benefit charitable causes, according to the Nebraska Attorney General's Office. Many of those charities are tied to the Huskers, according to communications provided by Brezinsky. They included the Team Jack Foundation, Sam Foltz Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Johnny Rodgers Youth Foundation, Nebraska Greats Foundation, Foreman Foundation and the Child Saving Institute.
Instead, the at least $87,000 of proceeds went into McCants' personal bank account and were spent on Disneyland tickets, purchases in Hawaii, streaming subscriptions and "what appears to be other personal expenses," according to the complaint.
The complaint seeks refunds and civil penalty costs.
Because the Minnesota game happened before his game, Brezinsky said he knew something was up with the deal before traveling to Lincoln. But the night before the game, he says he received word the promised experience wasn't going to happen.
Instead, he says McCants gave his group tickets in the southwest corner and Champions Club passes. He says they promised a refund, which never came. He got his money back by disputing the charge with his credit card company.
His group also "paid for hotels, rental cars, all of that just to come for this experience," he said. "We're not going to see that money again. That's not something that we would we had planned to do if it weren't for this (the gameday experience offer)."
Attempts to reach McCants were not returned.
The complaint says McCants "recruited a former player under the pretext that the Nebraska Game Day Experience was a fundraiser to benefit various charitable organizations."
That likely refers to Adam Carriker. On X, the platform formally known as Twitter, Carriker posted in January that he recorded a promotional video for the ticket packages and allowed information on them to be posted to his website. But he wrote Nfluence created and used and email in his name without his consent.
"Unfortunately, these unauthorized emails created the appearance for fans that I was directly involved in the Husker Gameday Experience, which was never the case. I am deeply saddened and angry to learn that numerous fans did not get what they paid for," he wrote.
See the full complaint here.
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