re: New policy bans opposing bands from performing in TS

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What value is there in the trip for a band to play on the field in the first place? If it is a money thing, playing at Tiger Stadium at halftime isn't worth $120,000 anyway.

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LINK

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“Obviously, these games are important to Jacksonville State and we’re very appreciative to Auburn for giving us the opportunity, for keeping the money in-state and playing an FCS school,” Greg Seitz, JSU’s interim athletics director, said Friday by phone from the team’s pre-game hotel in Prattville.

Seitz said the games are also important because of the publicity JSU gets from playing high-profile opponents. JSU’s players will get to see lots of familiar faces, as both Auburn and the Gamecocks recruit heavily among Alabama high schools.

Other than the date and the amount of the guarantee, there was just one other difference between the two contracts. The 2011 version allocated 300 complimentary tickets to the Gamecocks. This year, JSU gets those 300 plus 600 for its band, the Marching Southerners, who are expressly invited in the contract for a halftime performance.

“That’s in every one of our contracts now,” said Seitz, who has negotiated such deals for JSU for the last several years. “We want the Southerners on the field when we play the FBS opponents. They’re a very important part of the university.”

He said the Gamecocks will get $600,000 to play at LSU in 2016.

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LINK

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The athletes on the field might miss the band’s music and the other benefits that come with its presence, too: The coterie of fans who normally follow the Southerners for their performances likely won’t make the trip to Baton Rouge either, Bodiford thinks.

The money that would’ve gone toward buses and lodging in Baton Rouge will instead be saved for the same in Frisco, Texas, the band director said, where the Football Championship Subdivision national title will again be played.

“That’s a much more important game,” Bodiford said. He feels certain the Gamecocks will, once again, reach it.

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Athletic departments share money with the music department to make sure the bands show up. The money's in the budget. If they don't spend it, they'll lose it next year.

And if we're talking about wasteful expenses, how many JSU administrators and dignitaries will be flying first class, staying at luxury hotels, and racking up crazy bills?

How about all the walk-ons, redshirt players, and injured players? I mean, they're not playing. Technically that's a waste too.

All I know is that it looks like LSU broke its contract with Jacksonville State and just got back 600 complementary lower-level seats can sell for face value. Pretty shitty decision.