The Ole Miss Athletic Department introduced plans to build 10 new luxury suites at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium that are set to open in time for the 2027 football season.
The Founders Suites will be on the west side of the stadium, above the current press box structure. The suites will cost $5 million each and require a $2.5 million upfront payment. Ole Miss will bill the other half before the 2027 football season. Suite owners also must pay a $130,000 annual suite contribution. A waitlist for the Founders Suites is available now.
The suites are part of an effort by Ole Miss Athletics to bring in more revenue prior to the pending settlement of House vs. NCAA this month. House vs. NCAA is a pending court case that, once settled, will allow universities to pay student athletes up to $20.5 million per year. While universities are not required to pay athletes, many are making plans to do so in order to stay competitive in recruiting.
The Founders Suites, and their heavy price tag, could go a long way in helping the Athletics Department cover the new revenue sharing expenses.
“Obviously, the price tag is pretty high. And so we’re looking at this way to kind of solve two problems,” Keith Carter, vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics, said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian. “We want to create more suites and have that opportunity for our fans and donors to step up. But also we’re looking for revenue streams to try to offset some of these new expenses and those types of things.”
Additionally, the new seating may solve an issue with a suite shortage in the stadium.
“We have a long waiting list for suites in the football stadium. We know that our folks love those, and the Founder Suites are going to be 10 suites,” Carter said.
Each suite will contain 24 seats — 16 outdoor and eight indoor. Takers will also receive two football all-access passes, exclusive parking, “additional access to suite” and “limited customization options.”
Special accommodations include concierge services, dedicated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, naming opportunities and an exclusive Founders Suite elevator. Additionally, Founders Suite viewers will receive private catering, can bring in outside food and have access to a kitchen.
While the Founders Suites are set to open for the 2027 season, Ole Miss Athletics is still finalizing the plans.
“We’re in the middle of the planning stages, getting toward the end of that, actually, I think over the next few weeks,” Carter said. “We’re going to have the opportunity to maybe put some renderings out and start really showing what these things are going to look like, which will allow us to really start to sell in full force. But more to come on that probably here in the next couple weeks to a month.”
According to the Mississippi Institute of Higher Learning, no demolition will need to take place on the existing west grandstand to accommodate the new suites. Ole Miss Athletics can add the suites with a single-story addition to the west side structure.
The project will add more than 18,000 square feet to the existing press box for the Founders Suites, bathrooms and support spaces. Construction will also include three new stair towers, two new elevators and upgrades to the existing three elevators.
Architectural and engineering fees will cost $1.5 million. The construction cost has not been finalized.
