“He made a very impassioned, polite plea,’’ Flood said. “We stated that we would pay a sponsorship fee that was probably in line with some states wanted to pay, and I don’t know what the status is for those other states, but at the end of the day, the offer that I made, without having the opportunity to go really consult a lot of people, was $150,000.”

The NFHS, in Indianapolis, held an emergency meeting that lasted about an hour before accepting the bid.

Flood said he hopes others will defray his cost, but, “in the back of my mind I said if worse comes to worse, I’ll buy a commercial and use my campaign fund.

“I have no opponent. I’m not trying to be political. The boundaries of the law do require that you put in a commercial for political purposes. I do think that Nebraskans want to watch this.

“I think they want to watch it free of charge, I think, quite frankly they expect to watch it free of charge. My opinion is that sports unites communities and there are people across the state of all different ages who want to see their loved ones compete. And they shouldn’t have to pay for this.