The Grove is a staple in Oxford, Miss., as thousands of people travel to the small town of Oxford to experience The Grove and Ole Miss football. The Rebels will play four non-conference games and four in-conference games for a total of eight home games in the 2025 season. This will bring close to one million people into the town of Oxford. Not only does this help the college make money, but it also helps many small businesses stay open that otherwise would not be able to without all of these extra customers. However, this could be nerfed due to the rising costs of the Ole Miss gameday experience.
In The Grove, it now costs $150 per 10 x 10 tent for companies that set up spots for fans. Current Athletic Director Keith Carter has implemented this to bring in revenue from The Grove, which has been free for the past years. According to 247Sports.com, Carter said, “The Grove is Ole Miss. It is Oxford. We want to make sure that, obviously, The Grove stays intact, that all the charm and organic nature of it stays the same. But at the same time, we also know that there are a lot of people out there, and the tent vendors have done a fantastic job over the last 10-15 years of helping those folks out. It is just one of those things where with it being an Ole Miss space that we feel like Ole Miss should get a piece of that.”
Although what Carter says is true, Ole Miss has an abundance of money and makes millions of dollars every gameday, from ticket sales and concessions. According to olemiss.edu they generated 325 million dollars during the 24-25 season with only seven home games. Ole Miss is already going to generate more revenue since they are adding an eighth home game. some would even argue that the college already has enough money and should give the people just one thing to hang on to that is free.
This change will not just make the setup companies lose money paying for the spots, but also make them possibly lose customers due to the raising of prices. These companies already pay for parking on The Grove, which is a big expense. Even if the change does not directly affect other small businesses, it could lead to them losing money too. This is because if people spend more money on The Grove experience, they might not go shopping at the different stores throughout Oxford that rely on that source of income. It could eventually affect everyone, including the college. This is since some people will not make the trip to Oxford for the games if they cannot get The Grove experience, which could also make the attendance rate of the football games go down.
Even if this change in The Grove positively affects Ole Miss by making them more money it changes the tradition of tailgating for a Ole Miss football game that has been around since the 1950’s. It changes a very familiar weekend into something that is new, not in a good way for most people who attend Ole Miss football games. So Ole Miss should not charge money to tent companies for spots.
