STARKVILLE — South Beach is a sea of maroon, and it’s only going to get worse.
On Friday morning Mississippi State’s football team arrived in Miami for nearly a week’s worth of activities prior to the Capital One Orange Bowl. Since the team’s arrival, the fans have followed, and the area surrounding the Orange Bowl is expected to be awash in maroon by the 7 p.m. kickoff Wednesday.
That’s just how MSU wants it.
“In recent years, our Mississippi State family has taken over places like Jacksonville, Nashville, and just last year, Memphis,” MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin said. “We can’t wait to watch our fans take over South Beach.”
After selling 12,000 of its 15,000 ticket allotment prior to the team’s bowl destination being released, Stricklin says MSU’s sales have been brisk, though tickets remain, and the school expects a large crowd Wednesday.
With the impact of MSU’s traveling circus on Miami being imminent, one question remains: How much will a berth in one of the country’s most prestigious bowl games impact MSU?
The answer is plenty.
Record numbers
In 1992, the Southeastern Conference announced a revenue sharing plan between its then-12 member institutions and the league office, which split incoming revenues from postseason appearances and bowl games 13 ways. These days, it’s 15 ways (14 teams, plus the conference) and revenue has grown since the initial split of $27.7 million in 1992.
In 2014, the league announced it had distributed a record $292.45 million between its 14 schools and this year, the first year of the College Football Playoff and the SEC Network, that number is expected to increase.
For its part, MSU’s football team earned the conference pie a $27.5 million payout for accepting an invitation to the Orange Bowl, money that MSU will see once it gets emptied into the conference pot and redistributed. The Bulldogs will also receive a $2 million sum for making the Orange Bowl that will not be available to the other league members.
While the numbers are impressive, the payout prior to the conference diving up the funds is not. The Bulldogs’ trip to Miami will mostly be funded from the $2 million Orange Bowl check and the rest comes from a conference-backed travel fund.
“We might be able to squeeze $100,000 out of it this year if we are very frugal with travel expenses,” Stricklin said. “But that would really defeat the purpose of the reward of making the game for the staff and student athletes.”
Still, the opportunity at playing in one of college football’s grandest showcases has plenty of benefits.
“We think it’s great for our players and for our fans who get the chance to experience one of the best bowl games in college football,” Stricklin said.
‘We want this to be the norm’
MSU coach Dan Mullen likely isn’t interested in the money. Instead, he’s using the Orange Bowl exposure to make sure it happens again.
“What we want is for something like this to become the norm,” Mullen said at MSU’s Orange Bowl press conference earlier this month. “It’s great for our players and our program. The opportunity to go play in one of the most premiere bowl games in the country is pretty special. It’s something that we want to continue to build on in the future as we continue to build this program into one of the best programs in the United States.”
For MSU’s players, the excitement of being picked for a New Year’s Eve Bowl was almost secondary to the chance to enjoy South Florida in late December.
“Miami…that’s a nice town,” MSU defensive end Preston Smith said. “That’s a city I like spending a lot of time in.”
The game, MSU’s first Orange Bowl appearance in 73 years, gives the Bulldogs a chance at program history. A victory would give MSU 11 wins for the season, which would be a program first.
For Mullen, every first has a chance to be monumental for the Bulldogs.
“It will be an unbelievable experience for all of our guys,” the coach said. “As Mississippi invades Miami, it’s going to be a pretty big deal and a special time for all of us.”
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