2024 State Championship Games

[maroontide06]

26 minutes ago, Rebel Bert said:

 

My guess is restaurants do make some money in Hattiesburg. They have more to offer in Hattiesburg.

Newt’s in Dixie is hard to beat.  Their whole fry is where it’s at.

[Merlin]

I am curious as to if MS wouldn’t finally work out a deal to hand over the veterans memorial land to UMMC, and try to build an outdoor arena/stadium over near bass pro that would hold 24-30k.  Let JSU use it. High school state champ games. Junior college bowl game and possibly the juco state champ game. Monster truck shows. Stuff like that. 

 

[maroontide06]

1 hour ago, Merlin said:

I am curious as to if MS wouldn’t finally work out a deal to hand over the veterans memorial land to UMMC, and try to build an outdoor arena/stadium over near bass pro that would hold 24-30k.  Let JSU use it. High school state champ games. Junior college bowl game and possibly the juco state champ game. Monster truck shows. Stuff like that. 

 

That really does sound great in theory, but do you tear down Trustmark Park and replace it with a football stadium or do you keep it and build a new football stadium in addition to it.  Belhaven could probably go back to using Smith-Wills if they ever decide to replace Trustmark Park with a football stadium.

[wpgreenwave51]

2 hours ago, Merlin said:

I am curious as to if MS wouldn’t finally work out a deal to hand over the veterans memorial land to UMMC, and try to build an outdoor arena/stadium over near bass pro that would hold 24-30k.  Let JSU use it. High school state champ games. Junior college bowl game and possibly the juco state champ game. Monster truck shows. Stuff like that. 

 

 

That's too much like right with MS to do something like this

[Merlin]

50 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

That really does sound great in theory, but do you tear down Trustmark Park and replace it with a football stadium or do you keep it and build a new football stadium in addition to it.  Belhaven could probably go back to using Smith-Wills if they ever decide to replace Trustmark Park with a football stadium.

That makes me think of another question. Did the MS Braces leave due to stadium mismanagement or poor attendance or what?  I heard both. I would say that if they can’t get a new tenant for it relatively quickly then tear it down and build on the site. But is there enough parking there?  

[Merlin]

9 minutes ago, wpgreenwave51 said:

 

That's too much like right with MS to do something like this

All depends on if you funnel some money into the right pockets. 
 

I know people at JSU would raise issue with it. They would want it on campus. Which I can get that. Every college should desire on campus stadium. But they wanted it 55k seat horseshoe style at one point. And another they wanted domed stadium with retractable roof. And want the state to foot 90% of the bill.  The state won’t give a university that much for a stadium, otherwise USM, MC, MS Valley, Alcorn, etc would all get massive upgrades to theirs.  

Edited August 15, 2024 by Merlin

[pancho]

I heard an independent league baseball team was going to use trustmark next year. 

[maroontide06]

47 minutes ago, pancho said:

I heard an independent league baseball team was going to use trustmark next year. 

And that's ok.  As long as they can have a tenant there (like a baseball team), there shouldn't be any issues.  I just think it's going to struggle long term and what will happen when you can't find a pro/minor league team to be the primary tenant?  That's when you'll need to have a backup plan in place (aka repurposing that area).

[pancho]

I also hear that the city of Pearl still owes quite a bit on the park?  The only reason bass pro and the hotels etc is due to the ballfield.

[Merlin]

1 hour ago, pancho said:

I also hear that the city of Pearl still owes quite a bit on the park?  The only reason bass pro and the hotels etc is due to the ballfield.

I dunno bout that.  I bet bass pro brings more money to the area than that ballpark ever has. And an all-purpose stadium that hosts multiple football events (neutral site juco state title game would be amazing I think. Take the juco magnolia bowl away from the MGCCC campus and put it up there would likely also draw larger crowds. Then the state high school title games) and outdoor events such as monster truck shoots which draw a ton of people even for their small events in places like the coast coliseum the larger events would be more lucrative. Relocate the state fair as well could be possible. Marching band competitions. Whether it’s on the ballpark land or somewhere nearby, something like this would be a great addition to the area.  Sure you could say @theu could do all that at veterans memorial now” but no you can’t. Besides the fact no one really wants to use it. The location is an issue. No one wants to do anything inside Jackson city limits. And the farther from west Jackson the better. 

[Rebel Bert]

Add bleachers from tight field to left field to equal 15,000 and you would have the football stadium you need.

[TigersFan]

Does any one know what the actual attendance was at last years games?

[Bulldogs4]

The only non college stadium in Mississippi that has the capacity to host the State Championships is Ray Stadium (14K capacity). The problem would be having four locker rooms. There are currently potentially three. 
 

In 1982, we hosted the 5A (or whatever they called the large school classification in those days) State Championship game between West Point and Gulfport (won by WP 21-14). I think the crowd was around 6K. WP brought about 3K on the E side abd  then the W side had the GPT fans along with the neutral Meridian fans like myself and a buddy of mine who were there. Location is not bad for all the schools with the exception of the far corners of the state. Four lane or Interstate highways come in from all directions so accessibility is there. Plenty of HR’s and restaurants etc. 
 

Parking could be an issue as well but that could be managed. There a couple of large parking lots at nearby churches that could be used for overflow parking with shuttles.
Classes would have to be cx on that Friday but again that would not be a problem. 
 

With the renovations just completed the stadium looks good. The press box is about to get a makeover and that will bring the overall facility up to par. 
 

All that to say the Rock is the best venue for the SC’s. State & Ole Miss are way too large and OM is too isolated. Jackson is no longer viable. I loved Memorial Stadium back in the 1970’s/1980’s when State played games there. Lots of fun and great memories but that is all they are. Its time has long been passed by. 
Saw all the SP-Meridian games there in the 2000’s. Some classic games but they are now just memories. 

[Dubaction]

I’m sorry but … our neighboring states play their state title games in the likes of the Superdome and Bryant Denny stadium. I’ll never be ok with suggesting a high school campus for ours. 

[Rebel Bert]

Throw a few JUCO stadiums in the mix if MSU is not interested. Maybe some day JSU can get a 50,000 seat stadium on campus and be in the mix with tight security.

[Merlin]

1 hour ago, Rebel Bert said:

Throw a few JUCO stadiums in the mix if MSU is not interested. Maybe some day JSU can get a 50,000 seat stadium on campus and be in the mix with tight security.

They will never get a stadium that big.  They want the state to fund most of it, which won’t happen or every other 4 year situation will want a bunch of money as well. And JSU can’t raise the private funds.  
 

In a few years after the larger 32 schools split off from the ncaa to form an amateur league those who are left behind will see a sharp decrease in media money, and attendance. No one will need a stadium over 30,000 seats.