Contrary to developments in other states, Mississippi lawmakers are not interested in using public funding to build new stadiums.
The Clarion Ledger reports the Mississippi legislature rejected a proposal to create a new stadium for Jackson State University’s football team. This marks the fifth session in a row that lawmakers refused to consider a stadium funding reqauest.
Jackson State has used Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium for its home games since 1970. The stadium was built in 1950 and Sen. Sollie Norwood, a Democrat whose district includes the university, called for the stadium’s repair rather than the creation of a new venue.
“There’s a lot of history there,” Norwood said. “All those memories, you just can’t throw that to the side. You can’t go back and recreate those moments in a new stadium.”
Norwood added an obstacle for approving a new stadium was finding a location near the Jackson State campus that would accommodate such a venue.
“I looked throughout my district, and I’m not sure of any place that would fit,” Norwood said. “The only place that previously we had identified is a space where we were hoping to get another dormitory at some point.”
Jackson State is planning to request $19 million for stadium structural repairs as part of its Fiscal Year 2027 legislative agenda.
Photo: Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, courtesy Joe Furr / Wikimedia Commons
