Coach, the very basic flaw in your thinking on this....

[DowntownDawg]

...is that you are not getting the crowd you expect. I'd expect a crowd of no more than 30,000 if the tickets are priced at $40. I live in NEMS and I am not driving 2 hours further to go to a terrible stadium and watch us play South Alabama. The face value on the ticket in Starkville is lower. Since it is an away game, and it is not a part of people's season ticket packages and would be an extra outlay, even some of your Jackson and coast season ticket holders will stay home. In addition, to South Alabama, it's as much of an away game as Starkville would be, so they are going to bring roughly the same crowd they brought to Starkville.

I can't imagine it turning any kind of profit by the time you pay JSU and the "home team."

There's a reason that you don't see this done by anybody else.

 

[missouridawg]

Does anyone know what kind of attendance we get at the basketball games that are played in Jackson? I think that would be a good indicator of what we could possibly do at football...

If we're getting 5,000 fans for basketball, I would think getting over 20,000 for football would be tough.

If we're getting 15,000 for basketball, then putting 35,000 or 40,000 for football wouldn't be out of the question.

I did a quick search and couldn't find attendance numbers for the last two games in Jackson.

 

[Shmuley]

The coliseum only holds about 8000 max in the basketball set-up. Can't use that as a barometer.

 

[missouridawg]

The coliseum only holds about 8000 max in the basketball set-up. Can't use that as a barometer.

Thanks for the information. I didn't know it was that small.

Are we normally selling it out when they're in town?

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

2011 (NW State) - 6330
2010 (Belhaven, exhibition) - 4318
2009 (Centenary) - 5502
2008 (Nichols State) - 3421

Yeah, not looking good.

 

[johnson86-1]

No. Lots of empty seats at the last one.

 

[fishwater99]

I think we would come close to a sellout...

There would be a lot of fans that don't make the drive to S-Vegas show up in Jackson.
I know of a bunch of people, that are not season ticket holders, that would go to the game.
Putting butts in the seat would not be a problem, imo...

 

[ckDOG]

You are likely right. I still wouldn't mind someone taking the risk though.

The risk is on a 3rd party and it gives us more of a home field advantage than we otherwise would have. If somebody wants to roll the dice on it, I hope they go for it. However, as you alluded to, I doubt the possible returns are lucrative enough to get some investors to bite on the deal. We shall see...

 

[patdog]

I agree. No way we'd draw less than 50,000 in Jackson.

 

[Todd4State]

Here's the thing

This is not about selling the game out. Although, yes, that would be nice and awesome and of course we want as many people there as possible.

This is about not having to play at Troy, South Alabama, and La Tech etc. which HELPS our football team win. That's what this is about.

I'll be honest- I don't know how many people would go to this game. I don't know if it would sell out- I don't remember Coach or anyone else making that claim. What I CAN say is that we would draw more than we would at any Sun Belt game- and I can say that because I have gone out and watched us play in every Sun Belt venue that we have scheduled thus far.

Even the lowest estimate of 23,500 from 1989 or whenever we played LSU that one time- is at least five times what we would draw at a Sun Belt venue.

 

[o_hacker]

...is that you are not getting the crowd you expect. I'd expect a crowd of no more than 30,000 if the tickets are priced at $40. I live in NEMS and I am not driving 2 hours further to go to a terrible stadium and watch us play South Alabama.

You can't say that because YOU wouldn't show up, other people wouldn't. I live right on the Louisiana / Mississippi state line, and I'd go to a game in Jackson.

 

[KurtRambis4]

As Todd

stated below, this is mainly about playing an away game at a neutral site. Not about selling 80,000 tickets. Also, I would be willing to be that there would be at least 35-40,000 State fans at such a game, which is probably around 30-35,000 more than were at Troy.

 

[thunderclap]

It's time for everyone to think about this as an event, not just a game....

if it was a drive up, get out, go to the game, and go home, then yeah it'd suck with a crappy opponent. But it will be an event, with music and sponsor tents and kids stuff and alumni tents and so forth and so on. It's a chance to have a big State party in Jackson in the middle of football season.

 

[kired]

It's all in the marketing. I think you could easily get over 30,000. The Memphis game had over 30,000 last year. I would guess it had 15,000-20,000 MSU fans.

I think getting over 40,000 and especially 50,000 would be tough. You have to consider it's tough to get 55,000 in Starkville for a game against these type teams. Take away 10,000 students and you're going to struggle to get 45,000. I would love to make the drive from NEMS to watch a game in Jackson but know a lot of people that would not.

 

[Wizard.sixpack]

not a true fan...hopefully there aren't too many like you.....

 

[Felonious Junk]

the hogs play an OOC "away" game every year in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium. The stadium is a piece of **** but its a huge party and they sell it out every year. Why wouldnt we do the same?

 

[oldawg]

You can't say that because YOU wouldn't show up, other people wouldn't. I live right on the Louisiana / Mississippi state line, and I'd go to a game in Jackson.

I would think that the first thing potential organizers would do is look at attendance figures when we played regularly in Jackson. Might be enlighening, one way or another. You would also need to pay a lot of attention to games we played there that were not part of an MSU/OM double-header. The double-headers were the ones that put a ton of money in Jackson's coffers. I'm not convinced that C34's idea will make enough money to pay all the sponsors and participants. I think losing money is more likely. Maybe if the organizers got the money from parking and concessions.

 

[DawgsOnTheWing]

During the 1980s, there were 50,000 to 60,000 at our Jackson games with UM and USM. Granted,
these games involved 2 in-state teams. But assuming half the attendance for each team,
that would have been roughly 25,000 to 30,000 of us at those games. And that was back in the
1980s. Surely we would put 40K-50K butts in seats at Jxn these days.

The top 10 attendance records for State games at MVMS are in the 2012 Media Guide on hailstate.com

 

[DerHntr]

I seriously hope I am missing your sarcasm*

nm

 

[maroonmadman]

I really liked this idea at first.

Being in my mid 50's I can remember the 'good ol days' of football at memorial Stadium. Double header days when Satate and OM would both host an SEC opponent, usually when the State Fair was in town. Root for the Dawgs, root against OM and hit the Sate fair all in one day was the best college football atmosphere in the south back in its day. are a lot of folks my age that miss those days.

Then reality pays a visit and kicks me in the nuts. Them days are long gone.

Jackson and Memorial Stadium management had a chance, when the Colts and the Saints played their pre-season game, to prove they could host such an event. They failed miserably. Traffic, parking, entry into the stadium, running out of concessions, etc, fail, fail, fail, fail. The only thing that went well was the crowd did show up and fill the stadium. The folks in the neighboorhoods, the entrepeneurs, just north of the stadium did a better job of parking and traffic management than JPD. And sold some damn fine bbq chicken plates. Sad commentary there.

I'm all for second chances. Anybody or any group that decides to try and pull this off is going to have their work cut out for them. They'll have to ride the city of Jackson and Memorial Stadium management (JSU) to make sure they don't screw it up aGAIN. That of itself is a monumental task. It will be a huge risk, but one I would support. Anybody that has the balls/is crazy enough to try and pull this off better be ready to deal with all the idiots involved and have backup plans in place. This won't be easy but I'd like to see it happen.

 

[RougeDawg]

This is my 4th season living in South Louisiana..

I live in NEMS and I am not driving 2 hours further to go to a terrible stadium and watch us play South Alabama.

After a year in Houston and I've missed 5 home games in 5 seasons (3 because Houston is a 10 hr drive, and 2 for work/hurricanes).

This response is why we are just recently expanding what is one of the smallest stadiums in the greatest conference in North America. It's ***** excuses from fair weather fans who aren't willing to support our team, even if they play in someone's back forty.

I've averaged 9.5 MSU (except for yr in houston) football games since graduating and make as many games a year as possible, no matter how far the drive.

Jackson would be a nice change of pace game. Any time you can substitute an away game for a home-like atmosphere game, you jump on that like C34 on Stansbury after his #18 team lost to 17ing Rider.

 

[WrapItDog]

If this happens I'll buy the first round of Dock Rockers for all six packers after the game.

 

[TUSK.sixpack]

those bastards tore down my bar...

nomoredockrockersku

 

[Wizard.sixpack]

nm

HA...I forgot the sarcasterisks...

 

[Toby Nash]

There are over 500,000 people in the metro Jackson area alone. Many people will travel to the game. I don't think that selling tickets or drawing a crowd would be a problem. It never was in the past, and other MSU games held in the Jackson Metro area are well attended.

 

[oldawg]

Being in my mid 50's I can remember the 'good ol days' of football at memorial Stadium. Double header days when Satate and OM would both host an SEC opponent, usually when the State Fair was in town. Root for the Dawgs, root against OM and hit the Sate fair all in one day was the best college football atmosphere in the south back in its day. are a lot of folks my age that miss those days.

Well, now. If you couple C34's idea with an event in Jackson, I think you're on the right track. Stand alone MSU football game, I'm dubious.
As part of an event, I would support the idea. Although I still wouldn't go. The stadium is a pit, with terrible/no parking, traffic is terrible, and I remember reading about all the problems for the Saint's preseason game. No thanks.

 

[AndyMSU]

Here is my first sponsorship push then....

I remember as a kid when Jerry Jones took over a ****** *** Cowboy's franchise. They could not sell out a game for America's Greatest Sports Franchise in the history of sport. The team was rebuilding the product on the fields was getting better, Aikman was a rookie and 22 was just about to be drafted to seal the previous statement as greatest sports franchise comment.

Anyways, to my point.

It was Jerry's idea to promote the hell out of the games and they sold sponsorship to Tom Thumb grocery stores. Tom Thumb would buy any and all unsold tickets just prior to the TV blackout regulations kicking in. This allowed the games to be televised in the local market and they plastered the Tom Thumb logo all over everything and used their name all over all radio advertisements. It also generated a ****-ton of free publicity as all radio and tv stations would talk about it. Tom Thumb then would allocate the tickets they purchased to stores all over the metroplex and each store would do creative contests to give the tickets away. Or even give them away in house to employees.

Any local businesses that would get involved to that type of level? I have lived outside the U.S. for a really long time so the only think I remember is that WorldCom or whatever it was in Jackson is gone.... are there any big regional brands or national brands with significant ties to the Jackson area?

 

[Toby Nash]

Trustmark and CSpire come to mind. They are already involved in the local sports scene. I bet they would be on board.

 

[dawgstudent]

BankPlus as well.

 

[GoToHellOleMiss.sixpack]

This is about not having to play at Troy, South Alabama, and La Tech etc. which HELPS our football team win. That's what this is about.

Which is exactly why South, Troy, or La Tech won't go for it. Damn ya'll are hard-headed. If I'm an AD at any of those schools there is no way in hell I'm moving the biggest game we've ever hosted to a neutral site that isn't neutral. It's an interesting idea and maybe some retard Sun Belt AD will go for it....but the AD's at South, Troy, and La Tech are not retards.

 

[engie]

Which is exactly why South, Troy, or La Tech won't go for it. Damn ya'll are hard-headed. If I'm an AD at any of those schools there is no way in hell I'm moving the biggest game we've ever hosted to a neutral site that isn't neutral. It's an interesting idea and maybe some retard Sun Belt AD will go for it....but the AD's at South, Troy, and La Tech are not retards.

100% missed it...

The earning potential for this game ~ doubles for a Sun Belt team vs playing the game on campus(twice as many fans, twice as much concessions, ALCOHOL sales, etc). It would take a "retard" to immediately shoot down the idea under the pretense of "biggest game we've ever hosted" without looking at the monetary aspect of it. This could easily provide over 10% of their entire athletics budget and likely be the biggest single payday in the history of some of those programs.

But it truly is a good thing that they are not retards**

 

[Todd4State]

Well apparently

Which is exactly why South, Troy, or La Tech won't go for it. Damn ya'll are hard-headed. If I'm an AD at any of those schools there is no way in hell I'm moving the biggest game we've ever hosted to a neutral site that isn't neutral. It's an interesting idea and maybe some retard Sun Belt AD will go for it....but the AD's at South, Troy, and La Tech are not retards.

the AD's at ULM and WKU are retards because they moved games to Little Rock and to Nashville. La Tech is playing Texas A&M in Shreveport.

It doesn't matter that we are their "biggest" game in their school's history because those schools will not sell out their stadium. If they can make more money from a group buying the game out and make even more money- then they would be retarded for NOT doing it.

Our other options are to play the game on the road or bring in Texas and look at Matthew McConoughy's ***- which our fans aren't interested in.

 

[Coach34]

Which is exactly why South, Troy, or La Tech won't go for it. Damn ya'll are hard-headed. If I'm an AD at any of those schools there is no way in hell I'm moving the biggest game we've ever hosted to a neutral site that isn't neutral. It's an interesting idea and maybe some retard Sun Belt AD will go for it....but the AD's at South, Troy, and La Tech are not retards.

The AD at South Alabama has already been approached indirectly. He is interested and we will meet once a prospectus is put together with some numbers. Target time is before Thanksgiving.

 

[GoToHellOleMiss.sixpack]

100% missed it...

The earning potential for this game ~ doubles for a Sun Belt team vs playing the game on campus(twice as many fans, twice as much concessions, ALCOHOL sales, etc). It would take a "retard" to immediately shoot down the idea under the pretense of "biggest game we've ever hosted" without looking at the monetary aspect of it. This could easily provide over 10% of their entire athletics budget and likely be the biggest single payday in the history of some of those programs.

But it truly is a good thing that they are not retards**

Don't get me wrong....I hope they do it. It's great for us. I just don't believe that they would be so shortsighted. Yeah, the check that the Athletic Department gets would be larger but at what expense to the community and program.

There is a monetary value to the local community when an SEC team comes to town and all the hype and excitement for the fans and recruiting is a big deal. Maybe they'll bite and take a bigger check.

When I'm an AD at a crappy Sun Belt school I will never sell out.

 

[coach66]

One of the darkest days in the history of modern man*

ilikedmesomedockrockersku

 

[Coach34]

Don't get me wrong....I hope they do it. It's great for us. I just don't believe that they would be so shortsighted. Yeah, the check that the Athletic Department gets would be larger but at what expense to the community and program.

There is a monetary value to the local community when an SEC team comes to town and all the hype and excitement for the fans and recruiting is a big deal. Maybe they'll bite and take a bigger check.

When I'm an AD at a crappy Sun Belt school I will never sell out.

you need to read my other post

 

[Tds & Beer]

I would expect the same number we expect at a home game.

 

[DancingRabbit]

What are Dock Rockers?

 

[hatfieldms]

I live in Memphis and would definitely go.....

.....along with quite a few others I have talked to up here. You also have to think about all of the people from Jackson that now live in surrounding states that would use this game as an oppurtunity to see State play and come him to see family

 

[Dawgzilla]

I think his only real flaw is anticipating a profit. As I have posted elsewhere, I don't think USA or LA Tech would consider moving their games for less than $2 million. I don't think UAB would move their game for any price. Take the $2 million, and add in the cost of essentially renting the stadium (I'm sure something could be worked out where concessions and/or ticket receipts are shared with JSU, but it essentially boils down to rent), and all the other overhead involved, and I don't think its profitable.

But if some big donors are willing to put up the cash and try to negotiate with those schools, I will certainly attend the game.