Eliza NoeThere will be no Grove tailgating or game day activities during the fall football season, Gov. Tate Reeves said in a press conference today.
“I know this will not be popular. It’s no fun, and I’ll miss (game day activities) terribly myself,” Reeves said. “But it’s better than being a state that’s prohibiting football altogether.”
This decision comes after the SEC’s announcement of its health and safety guidelines for football season. Stadiums can only have 25% capacity of fans, and traditional game day activities could only happen if social distancing were possible.
Mississippi State had already canceled alumni tailgating by the time this decision was announced. LSU is discouraging fans without tickets from tailgating, and Alabama banned tailgating on Tuesday.
“I’d still rather be in the SEC with no tailgates than the Pac 12 or Big Ten with no football,” Reeves added.
Usually, thousands of fans gather in the Grove during football season, bringing an economic boom to Oxford. With this source of income gone, it is unsure where local businesses will stand financially.
At the time of publication, Ole Miss Athletics had not released a statement regarding the decision.
