(Photo Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)
- Matchup with Tulane brings national attention and uncharted opportunity for city.
The Ole Miss Rebels make their NCAA College Football Playoff debut on Saturday (Dec. 20) at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, hosting Tulane University and transforming Oxford into the most sought-after spot in the entire state.
The postseason milestone follows a regular season that delivered a record $411 million in visitor spending across the city and the highest single-game and regular season attendance numbers on record. City and University of Mississippi officials anticipate the playoff game will bring a holiday gift unlike any the area has experienced.
“It’s going to be a big week for everybody who’s in business,” said Jim Taylor, associate professor of nutrition and hospitality management and a 30-year veteran of the food service industry. “I think this is going to be the biggest weekend Oxford has ever seen.
“After the game, I think we’ll see record hotel, food and beverage, sales, and short-term rental rate taxes.”
Since December is a much slower time after students finish final exams, the area will almost certainly see a record impact, economics professor Josh Hendrickson said.
“With the playoff game, hotels will not only be full, but they’ll be also able to charge higher rates; restaurants will be full and stores will be crowded with more than just last-minute Christmas shoppers,” he said.
Many hotels have already sold out of rooms, raised rates or required three-day minimum stays. Surrounding communities, including Batesville, Tupelo and Water Valley, may also feel the spillover from visitors seeking last minute bookings or more affordable lodging, Taylor said.
During the regular season, the Sept. 27 LSU game produced the highest Thursday-Sunday impact, at $73.8 million and 93% of hotels rooms booked, according to Visit Oxford. In November, 68,138 fans set a new single-game attendance record when the Rebels played Florida.
Both those games set significant benchmarks for spending and attendance, said Kinney Ferris, executive director of Visit Oxford. As Ole Miss prepares to host its first College Football Playoff game, she described the weekend as “a moment unlike anything Oxford has experienced before.”
The added stakes of a matchup between two first-time playoff programs elevate the energy well beyond even the biggest regular season kickoffs, Ferris said. She expects the full economic impact to unfold in the weeks ahead.
“Any opportunity to shine a national spotlight on Oxford and the University of Mississippi is a major win,” she said. “With first-time visitors, extended stays and heightened media attention, we expect to see a meaningful ripple effect across our food and beverage sector, lodging and local businesses, building on the substantial spikes we saw during the 2024 football season.
“And with Oxford looking especially beautiful during the holiday season, we’re thrilled that our town will shine so brightly.”
Athletics and major events are financial cornerstones for many college towns, particularly during slower periods after fall finals and before the spring semester, Taylor said. This season, Oxford businesses also benefited from an additional home game, providing another weekend of visitors ahead of winter break.
Hendrickson expects the playoff game to drive an economic splash larger than a typical home game, citing both visitor spending and national exposure. He noted that television coverage offers a level of visibility that would typically require significant advertising dollars.
“The announcers for the game will also spend time during the broadcast talking about their time in Oxford and where they ate dinner or their favorite place to visit,” he said. “Television networks also love to show video of the Oxford Square and its Christmas lights as they go into or come out of a commercial.
“Commercials during the college football playoff are expected to cost around $2 million. Thus, every 30 seconds that the announcers talk about Oxford or show images of Oxford is equivalent to a gift of millions of dollars in advertising.”
Many local residents are also cashing in on the action, renting their homes for the weekend.
“There’s been such a demand that people have actually contacted me,” Taylor said. “I don’t normally rent it out, but if most places are charging $2,000 per night and I can charge $1,000 and have two months of my
mortgage paid for being out of town a couple days, why wouldn’t I do it?”
This special Ole Miss moment is also one that can foster long-lasting effects both for tourism and university recruitment efforts, city and university partners said.
The professionalism and adaptability of the Oxford workforce is the secret sauce to the city’s success during high-impact weekends, said David Joung, associate professor of nutrition and hospitality management.
“I believe most people see the crowds but not the intricate coordination that makes these weekends possible,” Joung said. “Behind the scenes, there is extensive preparation involving city services, public safety, waste management, traffic planning and the hospitality workforce.
“Large football weekends create a coordinated surge across the entire hospitality system. It’s important to recognize the impact on workers.”
