Not to poo poo the weekend that OM athletics had; more specifically, the Football team, but I’ve been thinking about this concern for a while now.
The insane price increases for all things associated with the Ole Miss fan experience.
Hear me out, it’s become apparent that the OM Admin thinks its fans are a bottomless cash pile. The cost of the Grove, tent services or spot permits, 200% increase in parking lot passes, ticket price increase, concessions, etc. How many fans would be willing to sacrifice attendance of a sporting event for an NIL donation? I get the University has a new set of major funding requirements due to the recent NCAA settlement; most season ticket holders I’ve spoken to have said a variation of, “if it goes up anymore, I’m just gonna buy tickets for a couple of games.” We spent a lick on that softball stadium upgrade (looks great, but stupid investment), have the manning center renovations, stadium upgrades, proposed baseball stadium upgrades; in addition to our insane coaching payroll (well deserved).
All of that is to say, we’ve got a lot of expenses but if talent acquisition via NIL is going to be the top spending priority, the administration needs to create some areas of “savings” for the fans. Im not even including lodging/food/ancillary costs for out of town visitors. The University can’t control that, so it’s not included in the assessment.
I moved my family here in large part due to our family loving all things OM sports; if it comes to NIL or being able to buy a parking pass, I’m getting that parking pass 100 out of 100. I doubt my line of thinking is in the majority, worst part is, there isn’t really anything to do about it other than vent on RG. First World problems no doubt, but real problems none the less. Carry on!
The insane price increases for all things associated with the Ole Miss fan experience.
Hear me out, it’s become apparent that the OM Admin thinks its fans are a bottomless cash pile. The cost of the Grove, tent services or spot permits, 200% increase in parking lot passes, ticket price increase, concessions, etc. How many fans would be willing to sacrifice attendance of a sporting event for an NIL donation? I get the University has a new set of major funding requirements due to the recent NCAA settlement; most season ticket holders I’ve spoken to have said a variation of, “if it goes up anymore, I’m just gonna buy tickets for a couple of games.” We spent a lick on that softball stadium upgrade (looks great, but stupid investment), have the manning center renovations, stadium upgrades, proposed baseball stadium upgrades; in addition to our insane coaching payroll (well deserved).
All of that is to say, we’ve got a lot of expenses but if talent acquisition via NIL is going to be the top spending priority, the administration needs to create some areas of “savings” for the fans. Im not even including lodging/food/ancillary costs for out of town visitors. The University can’t control that, so it’s not included in the assessment.
I moved my family here in large part due to our family loving all things OM sports; if it comes to NIL or being able to buy a parking pass, I’m getting that parking pass 100 out of 100. I doubt my line of thinking is in the majority, worst part is, there isn’t really anything to do about it other than vent on RG. First World problems no doubt, but real problems none the less. Carry on!
