Football games are a huge source of revenue here in the South where we eat, sleep and breathe football.
The annual Ole Miss vs. Alabama game has quickly become the most highly anticipated game in the SEC since Ole Miss upset Alabama in 2014, winning 23-17, and then repeated their victory the next year, winning 43-37 in 2015. The second win was an Ole Miss record for beating Alabama back-to-back years.
Dedicated Ole Miss fans go above and beyond to support their Rebels, and that is certainly true when it comes to the Alabama game.
Bigger rivalry means even bigger revenue for the university on game day. Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is expected to be at maximum capacity Saturday, and fans may wonder just how much money is spent at a game like this.
According to Angela Robinson, associate athletics director for financial operations, the total ticket revenue for the 2014 game against Alabama, including the proportionate season tickets by game distribution, was $2.6 million.
Individual game tickets were $75 each and season tickets were $360 in 2014.
This year, individual game tickets are $90 and season tickets are $400.
Total concessions revenue for the 2014 game was $354,662.
This year’s game is expected to be just as successful as 2014 in regards to revenue but not any more successful than other games this season.
The university’s revenue for the 2015 match was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
“Any big football game weekend where we’re completely sold out and we know that people are going to be using their tickets is a big weekend as far as revenue is concerned,” Michael Thompson, senior associate athletics director for communications and marketing said. “I wouldn’t say that it’s any different than any other big weekend that we have an SEC game or where you have SEC Nation, just a lot of people that we know are coming in.”
Thompson said he thinks the numbers this year will be very similar to 2014, but improvements to the stadium will increase the amount of revenue generated.
The two previous wins and the possibility of defeating Alabama for the third time in a row has fans excited.
The No. 19 Rebels will face the No. 1 Crimson Tide again this Saturday in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium where Ole Miss hopes to replicate the success.
During the off-season, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was renovated and the north end zone was closed in, making room for more fans.
“We’ve had a small increase in ticket prices, so you’re going to have a natural bump there,” Thompson said. “We have more tickets in 2016 than we did in 2014, a lot more. We have more concession stands. There are more opportunities for revenue just because our stadium has grown for this year.”
Thompson said he believes that the game against the Georgia Bulldogs may be a bigger game in terms of revenue.
“I know that next weekend with Georgia, we probably have more interest as far as people we know are coming,” Thompson said. “Georgia will probably be bigger and I think it’s because we don’t play Georgia every year like we play Alabama. With that rotating, you have a lot of people, especially from Georgia, that will be coming because they don’t always get to come to Oxford and the Grove.”
