For those who don't think the stadium upgrades matter

[Perd Hapley]

Hindsight is 20/20 but we should have bulldozed DWS before sinking money into it and built a modern bowl of 45k loaded with premium seating, tech, chair backs, proximity to field, overhangs for sound, etc.

Its not too late.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

When your gameday experience sucks compared to your peers, your recruiting will suck compared to your peers. Mullen preached that to us in his first year.

"Fixing the team" won't happen until we have something to attract them. Right now we are the least shiny object in the SEC.

I’ve got your attraction right here…


**

 

[Podgy]

The stadium and our tradition were the only reason we were in the game with Skenes. It's basically our advantage. And what you don't realize is that it's EVERY SPORTS PROGRAM IN AMERICA'S advantage. That's literally why recruits go most places, because of fan commitment. And you can say NIL all you want, well, that usually comes bigger at programs with big fan commitment.

I swear some of you are 17ing dense as shlt.

Whatev. Money mattered more. Less money spent on the stadium and more for NIL would matter. Fan commitment and the experience was already there before and we'd attracted top recruits before we overspent.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Whatev. Money mattered more. Less money spent on the stadium and more for NIL would matter.

**

 

[Podgy]

Because State is not only the poorest SEC program, it has the poorest Fanbase in the poorest State in the country. And it isn't because of the State's Conservative roots. Yes, I'm making our situation political because it is social, economic, political and personal.

What are the other poorest States with SEC programs?

Arkansas has 1 SEC school and only 1 P4 school.
Louisiana has 1 SEC school and only 1 P4 school.
Missouri has 1 SEC school and only 1 P4 school.

but here sits poor little Mississippi with 2 SEC schools. The fan bases cannot afford the cost of being competitive. It's just a fact of the football neighborhood we are in!

Let's annex Southern Miss.

 

[Podgy]

I am a big proponent of premium seating, upgrades, etc. But just my personal opinion, I'd be embarrassed to have a 45k seat stadium in the SEC. I think we need at least 60k to even stay in the realm of relevancy. Hell, they can lie about how many people it seats for all I care, but please let's not have an announced capacity of 45k. That sounds like giving up to me.

Didn't we have a 15+ game streak of sellouts at some point? It's not like we don't have the fans to fill up 60k. It's that the product sucks right now.

Universities are facing a demographic decline in the immediate future. Perhaps this will shut down smaller schools and some regionals as State and Ole Miss try to steal their students. The 2008 financial crisis didn't help the birth rate in this country

 

[Podgy]

I agree with the OP. My wife has no skin in the game. Went to William Carey in Hattiesburg and couldn't give two 17s about football. But we went to Columbia, SC last season and while we were there she said, "i hope this doesn't hurt your feelings, but this is a lot more fun than a Mississippi State game". I told her that I agreed with her. That was a great atmosphere. The LED lights. The music. It was just 17n fun to be at. Y'all are preaching to the choir reminding us that winning is more important than ribbon boards, led lights, music, etc. No **** sherlock. You can make the atmosphere better and start winning at the same time. It isn't one or the other.

It's expensive to keep up with the neighbors. Do we have the money for that and NIL? The SEC does give us a big check

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Whatev. Money mattered more. Less money spent on the stadium and more for NIL would matter. Fan commitment and the experience was already there before and we'd attracted top recruits before we overspent.

Yeah, well, you’re just an idiot.

 

[Mr. Cook]

View attachment 706353
**

HFIH ($1)

 

[Tall Dawg]

Get the LEDs installed for 2025 season! I don’t care if it cost $1.5MM, just do it!
Heck, A LOT OF HIGH SCHOOL teams have them.

 

[MSTerritoryDog]

I don’t necessarily expect DWS to be first in get something new, but I definitely don’t want to be the last. Even if we are last for getting a particular upgrade at least be in the process of updating.

i.e. the caboose is at the end of the train, but at least it’s attached to the next-to-last car…. Not a mile farther down the track…

 

[civildawg88]

Get the LEDs installed for 2025 season! I don’t care if it cost $1.5MM, just do it!
Heck, A LOT OF HIGH SCHOOL teams have them.

The number the AD throwing around for LED's is 20 million. The bid was apparently to completely redo all the lighting

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Go listen to the newest Thunder and Lightning.

Flashing lights, good audio, the entire gameday experience, etc matters when it comes to recruiting.

Go to an away game. Then come to a game at DWS. I shlt you not, it's like going to SEC game, then a MAC game.

We are rolling out a mascot on a golfcart with a doghouse facade with sparklers and muffled audio into a stadium at 60% capacity. It's 100% Busch League and recruits taking OVs know it's lame. If you have a JUCO level experience, expect to land JUCO level players.

You at home may be fine with it, but good recruits who are traveling the SEC get to witness gameday experiences that make ours look 2nd rate. We should all be embarrassed.

It has to change.

 

[HWY51dog]

I went with my son on a visit to Holmes. This was at the end of the 3rd qt and I will be honest, it was cool. I mean this is Holmes Junior College….if they can do cool
things…

 

[Mr. Cook]

wasn’t MSU the last to get lights in their stadium? I think it was the mid 80s when they were installed at what was then Scott Field

ETA: last in the SEC

 

[Podgy]

Yeah, well, you’re just an idiot.

Look at all those recruits that got Vandy those Nattys. They loved the stadium and whistlers. You nailed it again.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Look at all those recruits that got Vandy those Nattys. They loved the stadium and whistlers. You nailed it again.

Yes, need-based aid helped some of the poor smart kids they recruited. Nashville is also a recruiting piece, as is the school itself for many of the other players. And, Corbin is a good coach with a track record of development. Everything plays into it.

Our advantage is playing in front of big crowds at a nice stadium. We don't have Nashville and academics. Money actually helps us too, as our tuition is lower for MS players and many times can be waived for certain others.

NIL is a factor for everybody now. But most baseball players don't get NIL, I'd go well north of 80%.

For years California fielded elite teams in front of small high school stadiums, essentially. Their advantage was location and academics, and essentially a wealth of talent around.

I am really not sure what your point is. You want to remove our advantage, play the money game, and expect to compete? I'm guessing you just don't care about baseball. There are many more baseball players out there than football, so the dynamics are different.

 

[HuntDawg]

Yes, need-based aid helped some of the poor smart kids they recruited. Nashville is also a recruiting piece, as is the school itself for many of the other players. And, Corbin is a good coach with a track record of development. Everything plays into it.

Our advantage is playing in front of big crowds at a nice stadium. We don't have Nashville and academics. Money actually helps us too, as our tuition is lower for MS players and many times can be waived for certain others.

NIL is a factor for everybody now. But most baseball players don't get NIL, I'd go well north of 80%.

For years California fielded elite teams in front of small high school stadiums, essentially. Their advantage was location and academics, and essentially a wealth of talent around.

I am really not sure what your point is. You want to remove our advantage, play the money game, and expect to compete? I'm guessing you just don't care about baseball. There are many more baseball players out there than football, so the dynamics are different.

80% of baseball players dont get NIL is dead 10000000% wrong... unless you are referring to the entire colleigate world of baseball... which doesnt really matter in this case.

Nearly everyone on the team gets some sort of NIL... and there are 12-14 guys on the team making more in a year than a person making minimum wage working 40 hours a week does.

AND on top of that 1-2-3 that are making way more than that.

12 to 15 guys what will be a 30 man roster.. in the SEC/ACC and similar type programs are getting paid a nice pay day for a college kid.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

80% of baseball players dont get NIL is dead 10000000% wrong.

Nearly everyone on the team gets some sort of NIL... and there are 12-14 guys on the team making more in a year than a person making minimum wage working 40 hours a week does.

AND on top of that 1-2-3 that are making way more than that.

12 to 15 guys what will be a 30 man roster.. in the SEC are getting paid a nice pay day for a college kid.

Across the country.

I have no doubt that more of 80% of our players are getting NIL, which renders his point even more wrong. At places like MSU, where there is more fan support, there will be more NIL available.

 

[HuntDawg]

Across the country.

I have no doubt that more of 80% of our players are getting NIL, which renders his point even more wrong. At places like MSU, where there is more fan support, there will be more NIL available.

across the country.. then yea... but not sure that really matters. When your talking about trying to compete at the top.. all the top programs and major confeernces are going to dole out money for baseball players.

 

[Podgy]

Yes, need-based aid helped some of the poor smart kids they recruited. Nashville is also a recruiting piece, as is the school itself for many of the other players. And, Corbin is a good coach with a track record of development. Everything plays into it.

Our advantage is playing in front of big crowds at a nice stadium. We don't have Nashville and academics. Money actually helps us too, as our tuition is lower for MS players and many times can be waived for certain others.

NIL is a factor for everybody now. But most baseball players don't get NIL, I'd go well north of 80%.

For years California fielded elite teams in front of small high school stadiums, essentially. Their advantage was location and academics, and essentially a wealth of talent around.

I am really not sure what your point is. You want to remove our advantage, play the money game, and expect to compete? I'm guessing you just don't care about baseball. There are many more baseball players out there than football, so the dynamics are different.

Quit changing your argument and making idiotic assumptions. That stadium expansion was unwise and upgrades sufficient to continue to attract good talent would likely take half that amount.

FYI, Cali's demographics changed in just a few decades.

 

[Howiefeltersnstch]

Well I'm convinced

 

[Dawg84]

While that sounds fine, you can’t do that to the 2nd oldest stadium in D1 football.
Templeton started the addition of the upper deck west side by going cheap and it continued with the cheap addition of the East side upper deck.
We have 4 different looks and styles built into one stadium
The only side that looks like a decent stadium is the north endzone expansion.

Unique! (***sort of )

 

[Dawg84]

BBBBBBut the 53-year-old fan sitting on his couch doesn't care...

I’m a pretty young 63 year old, who attends every home game, and some away games. I can tell you that I’m tired of consistently being behind all these other SEC schools in every perk and attraction that adds to the game day experience. We stay behind in almost everything. Never leading. You got people complaining that we don’t need to spend money on lights, or speakers, stadium improvements, stadium expansion, etc. Yes, we do. We are never going to attract players, new students, or new fans without those things. Sitting around watching all the improvements at other schools, while we have nothing new, gets pretty old. And, don’t let folks try to depress you with the old, “Miss State is poor and has no funding”. That’s totally not true. Facts. We do have the money to do those things. Mississippi State just needs to decide if it wants be all in as an SEC school, or drop into a lower level conference. I don’t want that.

 

[tbaydog]

Winning solves all problems!

 

[Lucifer Morningstar]

Because State is not only the poorest SEC program, it has the poorest Fanbase in the poorest State in the country. And it isn't because of the State's Conservative roots. Yes, I'm making our situation political because it is social, economic, political and personal.

What are the other poorest States with SEC programs?

Arkansas has 1 SEC school and only 1 P4 school.
Louisiana has 1 SEC school and only 1 P4 school.
Missouri has 1 SEC school and only 1 P4 school.

but here sits poor little Mississippi with 2 SEC schools. The fan bases cannot afford the cost of being competitive. It's just a fact of the football neighborhood we are in!