Super Bulldog Weekend 2012 will feature the first concert ever to take place in Davis Wade Stadium. Grammy Award-winning country duo Sugarland is scheduled to perform after the Maroon and White spring game, April 21.
Sugarland’s visit to Mississippi State University is going to be a showcase of the hard work of MSU’s athletic department and Music Maker Productions.
Chad Thomas, assistant athletic director of marketing, said a stadium show in Davis Wade has been in discussion for about two years.
“We got to the point of what can we do next?” he said.
Thomas said the athletic department is excited about doing something different for the spring game this year.
“We’re all about trying new things,” he said. “It will be cool to start with Sugarland this year, and then next year, get another big name.”
Thomas said this year’s Super Bulldog Weekend is really about bringing people to MSU.
“We want to encourage people to become MSU fans,” he said. “Those people will see this beautiful campus and get to experience MSU, and then maybe, they will come back in the summer for a guided tour.”
Although people who are already MSU fans usually attend the spring game, Rhett Hobart, Student Association president, said he believes the addition of this concert will attract Sugarland fans who are not MSU fans to Super Bulldog Weekend.
He said he thinks the concert will help expand MSU as a university, bringing in potential students who may have otherwise never visited MSU. It will also open doors for big events like this in the future.
“An event like this will help us be on the cutting edge of making those things a reality,” Hobart said. “We have a chance here to set a precedent.”
Brice Lambert, senior and student director of MMP, said he thinks all of the SEC will be watching MSU because no other school has put on a stadium show before.
“Other schools are definitely paying attention,” he said.
Lambert said the scale of this show is enormous. The stage will be in the end zone and is as wide as the field. Setting up the stage will begin mid-week before the day of the show, and the spring game will be played on only 60 yards of the football field.
He said this event will be three times the size of Bulldog Bash. The total budget for concerts during Super Bulldog Weekend in the past has been around $60,000. This year, that amount covers only operating costs.
“This show costs 10 times as much as shows in the past,” he said.
One of the main reasons athletics was open to having a concert in the stadium is because the field is being re-done afterwards, making it hard to be repeated.
“This may be the first and last Davis Wade show ever,” Lambert said.
This concert has been the cause of some complaint. In order to attend the spring game, people will have to buy a ticket. A ticket includes both the concert and the spring game.
For several years now, the spring game has been free. However, Hobart said he wants to make it clear that the spring game did require a ticket in the past. He said he hopes people will understand that buying a ticket this year that includes both the game and the concert is necessary.
“The spring game has not always been free, only in recent years,” he said. “In order to make this a one-of-a-kind event, we have to charge.”
Members of MMP and the athletic department are encouraging students to take advantage of this opportunity to see one of the top touring acts in the country for such a low price.
Until March 2, tickets to see Sugarland are $15 each for students. Students can buy two tickets with their student ID.
“(Student seating is) literally going to be right next to the stage for this event,” Thomas said. “The cheapest seats in the nosebleed sections of (Sugarland’s) last tour were $59.50; our most expensive is $50 on the field.”
After March 2, the ticket price will rise to $25 for students.
So far, around 10,000 tickets have been sold. Tickets will be on sale in the Colvard Student Union Feb. 28 through March 1 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. They can also be purchased at any time in the Bryan Building.