MSU AD John Cohen speaks on possibility of fans in Davis Wade this fall
There is still no guarantee at all that there will even be a football season this fall. If it happens though, will Mississippi State's cowbell-clanging fanbase be allowed inside the Davis Wade Stadium gates to root on the Bulldogs?
MSU athletic director John Cohen addressed that issue on a Thunder & Lightning podcast exclusive interview on Friday, specifically talking about if there was a cutoff point where it might make sense from a financial standpoint to just not allow fans in the facility due to the cost of staffing the stadium. Here is part of what Cohen said:
"To me, this isn’t all about dollars and cents. We probably would end up having a net loss at 25 percent (capacity), but let’s keep this in mind – I think parents need to be able to come watch their kids play in any sport. Families need to watch their kids participate. We forget that you have such a short window of your life’s experiences as a young person that you get to share with your family. I’m talking about all of our sports here. I think that’s of critical importance. So let’s not forget that the families deserve to get to watch these kids play their sports and hopefully that’ll happen. But yeah, to me, I don’t know what 25 percent of our total capacity is. I can get close to it. Is that 12,000 or 13,000 people? To me, it is worth it – even if it is a net loss – to have those people to create some type of environment for these student-athletes. This is what they signed up for. They signed up to have people in the stands. Even though this isn’t what we would want it to be, the student-athletes and the staff deserve to have as much support as we can provide them. If that’s 25 percent, it’s 25 percent. We hope it’s more, but again, that’s going to be a state and local government decision. It’s not going to be (an Ole Miss athletic director) Keith Carter or John Cohen decision in the state of Mississippi.
Based on these comments, it appears Cohen is solidly in the corner of trying to find a pathway to get as many fans as possible in the building to watch the Bulldogs this fall. However, it's a call that isn't his alone to make. More from Cohen:
"I would love to see (Davis Wade Stadium at) more than 25 percent (capacity), and again, we have some time. Do you push the season back just in order to have more people in the stands? That is an issue that’s being wrested with at many levels right now as well."
For more from Cohen on this and a number of other topics, listen to the full interview here:
