The Grove at Ole Miss is widely considered to be one of the finest pregame tailgating spots in all of college football. The Rebels, however, don’t appear to be ready to take that party inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium just yet.
While many expected a tidal wave of schools opening up the taps following the SEC’s vote to allow alcohol sales in general seating areas at the league’s stadiums, that has not quite been the case. You can add Ole Miss to the list of programs being cautious in 2019 and taking things slower than most fans would want by skipping out on sales altogether this fall.
“I wouldn’t anticipate it happening for football this fall just based on timing alone,” interim athletic director Keith Carter told 247Sports. “We would leave the door open that maybe later in the academic year, if the timing works out and we decided it’s the right thing to do, that that door would be opened at that time.”
Carter went on to note the challenges associated with serving beer and alcohol at the stadium from a regulatory standpoint and the lack of a concrete plan being set on campus. Probably left unsaid is the fact that the school is in a bit of flux given the departure of his predecessor, among other issues.
So far, fellow SEC West member Texas A&M has announced plans for sales to commence in general seating areas this fall while Georgia has taken the opposite approach and is more in line with what Ole Miss is doing.
