College football fans racked up quite the tab during the rivalry game on Saturday, Sept. 19, between the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels.
The exorbitant amount was partly due to the record crowd of 70,000 people. With former head coach Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford, Ole Miss fans packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
When the eye-popping report was released, social media users quickly took notice.
"$750K of that was likely the LSU fans in attendance. We needed it after the first half," an
"I know stadium beer isn't cheap but WOWZA, that's a lot," an X user replied.
Another fan pointed out how a 2019 policy change to permit alcohol sales at SEC games resulted in a massive payout for Ole Miss.
"Look at what the SEC missed out on all those years they refused to sell booze on campus. WILD," the fan wrote.
"Oxford, Mississippi is awesome! You can feel the electricity in the air on game days," another replied.
Lane Kiffin Comes Up Short in Ole Miss Return
The sell-out, likely-drunken crowd was not disappointed, either, as Ole Miss triumphed over Kiffin and the Tigers 32-24. Following the massive win, Ole Miss surged to No. 4 in the AP Poll.
Kiffin, who coached Ole Miss for six seasons before jumping ship to LSU, had some choice words for the Rebel fan base after the game.
On the Teleconference, Kiffin spoke about having multiple chances to win the game even though it was Ole Miss' "Super Bowl."
"If it wasn't for the name, Ole Miss, and if it was more of a traditional name that we were playing, we hadn't coached at before, how would everybody be feeling if, in your third game of your first year of a program, you went to Ohio State and came all the way back?" Kiffin asked. "The quarterback didn't play very — ours (Sam Leavitt) didn't play very well. Theirs played lights out. I'm sure after three games, he would be named the Heisman winner.
"So, I think when you look at it that way and say, OK, man, their Super Bowl, then all the stuff around it, all the energy in the stadium, everything, and we're right there at the end with multiple chances to win the game. We got to learn from that and finish when we're in that type of situation again."
