Ole Miss used some creativity to raise funds to cover the costs of the fans’ celebration on Saturday after the football team’s win over Alabama.
Ole Miss was fined $50,000 by the SEC for fans storming the field. Then they amassed costs of $22,000 to replace the goalposts that were taken down and paraded up and down the streets by the stadium after the win. In order to cover to the expenses, the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation set up a fundraiser that worked better than expected.
The foundation sent a tweet Tuesday that linked to a page where the school was doing the fundraising. They were aiming for $75,000 in donations and exceeded that mark by a far margin; they were up to over $103,000 as of publishing. A big reason why they were able to receive so much is because they sold off pieces of the goal posts to the premium donors.
[PHOTOS: Ole Miss fans carry goalposts down the streets]
Here’s the description of the donation page:
If you’ve found this page, we hope that means you were there in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday to watch the Rebels’ comeback win over #1 Alabama. As you probably know, our fine for rushing the field was $50,000 and the cost to replace the goalposts is close to $24,000. We will gladly pay these expenses, but countless fans from Rebel Nation have asked about how they could contribute, so we’ve set up this page to do just that. By donating, you’re forever contributing to solidifying the memories that were made inside the stadium that October afternoon. Help us reach our goals of funding the goalposts and fine. Hotty Toddy!
For $1,000, they offered a maximum of 10 donors six-inch pieces of the goalposts. For $500, they offered 70 donors three-inch pieces of the goalposts. They also offered gifts for donors at smaller levels, like the $5, $25 and $250 amounts.
The willingness of the fans to spend that kind of money just goes to show how much the win over Alabama meant to them. Those victories are rare, so the fans want every memento possible.
H/T Dr. Saturday
