In an effort to welcome visitors to Oxford for Fall Family Weekend from Sept. 19-20, the Ole Miss Athletic Ticket Office is offering family members of Ole Miss students discounts on tickets to Saturday’s football game with Tulane.
“Ole Miss Athletics works with the Ole Miss Family Association to offer a limited number of discount tickets for people that have parents and families that have joined the family association,” Special Assistant to the Chancellor-Family Engagement Merrill Magruder said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian.
These tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis based on the date of membership registration to the Ole Miss Family Association (OMFA) and the Family Leadership Council. Family members can join the OMFA on its members page.
Magruder explained that Ole Miss Athletics’ decision to offer discounted tickets aims to make the Tulane game accessible to as many family members as possible.
“Fall Family Weekend has been going on for about 20 years now,” Magruder said. “We want (families) to be able to come and spend as much time with (students) as possible, be able to see what campus is like on a game weekend and also be able to support those families who have never been to the Grove or been to an SEC football game.”
The OMFA welcomes volunteers for their events; those interested in participating can contact Magruder.
With recent enrollment growth and Ole Miss’ recent success on the gridiron, ticket prices are higher than ever. Following the glitch-filled student ticket sales process in early August, many students were left without student tickets to games.
Senior pharmaceutical sciences major Andrew Williams said that the high price of tickets on the open market prevents many students from attending games.
“With the price of the tickets and the price people are selling them at, I think they’re just trying to make a profit,” Williams said. “So I don’t think (I’ll go to more games), unless I get (tickets) really discounted.”
Some of those who were lucky enough to purchase student tickets are selling them online. The cheapest individual tickets to the upcoming LSU game, for example, are being listed in the range of $129-308 before added fees, according to Seat Stock. On Ticketmaster, tickets for chairback seats run as high as $1,600.
Considering these prices, many students were happy to see the discounts for families this weekend.
“I think that’s pretty cool,” freshman marketing major Ethan Byrd said. “It allows the parents to hang out with their kids and makes for a good weekend.”
Freshman mechanical engineering major Grant Wallace echoed Byrd’s sentiments.
“I think it’s a good opportunity for the students’ families to come and really see what makes this campus and the athletic program so special — not just in the state of Mississippi, but nationwide,” Wallace said.
