Brian Dubiski honours daughter Madison at Wembley
The Union Jack Classic co-founder, whose daughter died in a 2021 crowd crush, has shaped Wembley's crowd safety ahead of Saturday's Arizona State-Kansas game.
Brian Dubiski will watch 60,000 fans fill Wembley Stadium on Saturday for the first US college football game played in Britain, and his thoughts will be with his daughter, Madison, who died in a crowd crush at the age of 23.
Madison and nine other people were trampled and suffocated at a Travis Scott concert in Houston in November 2021. Dubiski, chairman, CEO and co-founder of Union Jack Classic, the company behind Saturday's game between Arizona State and Kansas, now works to keep crowds safe at sporting events and concerts. Since December, Wembley has followed the safety protocols he introduced.
Dubiski, 57, played college football for Texas Tech and will sit in the Royal Box on Saturday. The sight of cheerleaders from both teams will carry its own weight for him: Madison used to be a cheerleader.
"I think Madison would be extremely proud of our work," Dubiski said in London. "As much as I wake up every day trying to honour my daughter, while trying to ensure she did not lose her life in vain, it can overwhelm you. It's a hard line to walk because, emotionally, I don't think I'll ever heal. But everything I do is about representing Madison. It's a big reason I did this game at Wembley."
College football ranks second only to the NFL in popularity in the United States. Saturday's match brings that sport to a stadium more usually associated with the NFL's own London games, with Dubiski's safety protocols now part of how Wembley operates.
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