NCAA Approves Regular Season On-Field Sponsorships; Will Ole Miss Implement?

Could the Ole Miss Rebels and Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at Hollingsworth Field add some on-field sponsorships this season?

Nov 4, 2023; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive back Daniel Newman (49) wearing the camouflage helmet during warm ups prior to the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

With revenue sharing for student-athletes likely coming down the pipe, college athletic departments are about to get creative financially. On Thursday, they received a new outlet to do just that.

The NCAA will now allow commercial sponsor advertisements on football fields, giving the opportunity for schools to place ads in three different spots: the 50-yard line and no more than two smaller ads elsewhere on the field. This could open up a new money source for college athletics, and with the economic changes coming to the sport, it couldn't come at a better time.

The question now is whether or not the Ole Miss Rebels will pursue this for the 2024 season. The ads themselves can be done on a game-by-game basis or for the entire regular season, but who could the Rebels snag for such a lucrative opportunity?

There are a few options, some of which center around Ole Miss alums.

One of the most obvious options is Realtree, an outdoors company that was founded by Ole Miss football alum Bill Jordan. Realtree has already implemented a special helmet design for the Rebels over the last two seasons, so it might not be the best candidate. Of course, who knows? Maybe the company would jump at the opportunity.

Another option is FedEx. This corporation has partnered with Ole Miss in various academic ventures for years, and there are some prominent university alums who are within the company's hierarchy. FedEx is also based in Memphis, just about an hour north of Oxford, and it is the namesake of the FedEx Student-Athlete Academic Support Center on campus.

There's also Mississippi-based C Spire, a telecommunications company with its headquarters in Ridgeland. This corporation also has an office on campus at Ole Miss, located at Insight Park, so perhaps it would be willing to spring for an on-field ad.

This is all speculation, however. It's unclear whether or not Ole Miss will even implement this new trend on its field surface this season, but if it decides to, there should be plenty of suitors who would like the SEC screen time, whether they have a connection to the university or not.