Inside Athletics: Walker Jones

OleMissSports.com's Inside Athletics is a biweekly blog by the Ole Miss athletics department's senior administrators and key personnel to offer fans added insight into the overall operation of the department.

I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the many projects and improvements we are making inside Ole Miss Athletics. Since my transition to TeleSouth Communications this past spring, many exciting projects and events have taken place to make us a better, more efficient marketing operation at our great University. Never has there been a greater emphasis in marketing our teams and managing our multi-media rights than now. In this article I have included information which will allow you to further understand the role we play in Ole Miss Athletics and the considerable amounts of time and resources we are dedicating to all our athletics teams.

As many of you are aware, the Athletics Department and TeleSouth Communications have reached an extension and expansion to our multi-media agreement. This 10-year extension will allow us to expand into areas and resources previously not available as well as provide the Athletics Department with a greater financial return and a comprehensive marketing effort for all 18 varsity teams. This agreement will provide all Rebel fans with a first-class, professional product in all phases of marketing and multi-media rights. Unlike many of our counterparts, we provide marketing services for all of our teams and incur all costs associated with those efforts.

I would like to point out a few additional opportunities and projects that are a result of this expansion and extension.

-          The addition of LED, high definition ribbon board displays at both Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and Tad Smith Coliseum. These display boards not only increase the revenue stream to Ole Miss Athletics through increased sponsorship opportunities, but they also enhance these facilities by providing live animations, spirit displays, live in-game stats and fan interactive features. Several of our counterparts in the SEC have these exact display boards in their stadiums, but I am proud to say that Ole Miss will have the largest in terms of square footage. This capital investment was done without any cost to the Athletics Department.

-          Radio coverage in the state of Mississippi is a hot button topic and an on-going annual battle. Our statewide radio network has grown and will continue to grow considerably over the next couple of years. We were able to add a 50,000-watt station on the Gulf Coast as well as a 25,000-watt station in the Meridian market. In particular, Meridian was an extremely difficult situation for us due to the lack of sponsorships in that local market. We were involved in some tough negotiations and ended up finally reaching an agreement with that particular station. But we knew it was an important area for our fans and had to do whatever it took to get the coverage. There is no doubt that Ole Miss possesses the largest, most comprehensive radio network for college athletics in the State of Mississippi. Are we happy and content with our current radio coverage? Absolutely not! But while radio rights and coverage have decreased for many in this state, ours has sustained and grown.

-          TeleSouth exercised a buyout of the Action Sports Media Jumbotron Contract on behalf of the Athletics Department. This will again provide a greater financial return to the Athletics Department through sponsorship opportunities that were not being fully realized under the Action Sports Media contract. TeleSouth will now have the ability to replace the current board with a more modern, larger and functional board in the next couple of years. There has been quite a bit of talk about why we don’t go ahead and replace the current board now. There are several reasons for this. One being that TeleSouth just spent a considerable amount of money to buyout the existing contract and needs a little time to recoup some of that cash outlay. Second and probably most importantly, the University must decide what its plans are for the north endzone in terms of expansion and renovation. We want to make sure that we choose the best possible replacement video board that fits into those long-term plans. Once the University decides what it wants to do, than we can choose the best possible video board replacement that fits into those plans.

-          We have recently signed a three-year contract with Ole Miss and the University of Southern Mississippi to play a three-game men’s basketball series at neutral sites throughout the state. The first game in the series will be played December 28at the Desoto County Civic Center in Southaven. The game will then move to Jackson in 2008 and will conclude in Biloxi in 2009. The two schools have not played each other since 1995. TeleSouth will serve as the promoter of the series and will underwrite all expenses associated with the events. We feel this series will be great not only for both schools but the entire state of Mississippi.

As you can see, we are working extremely hard to provide the best possible service to our University and its fans. I am proud of our staff and their tireless dedication to working long nights and weekends. This job is about passion and hard work, and we have the right individuals in place to compete in the most competitive conference in the nation. I would like to invite our fans to please stop by and see me or give me a call if they have any questions or concerns. My door is always open, and I welcome any suggestions or comments you may have. We are honored to work for our great University and look forward to many successes in the future.

Walker Jones

Executive Director, Ole Miss Sports Properties

TeleSouth Communications

(662) 915-7814 | wwjones@exceedtech.net

Past Articles

09/05/2007

OleMissSports.com Launches Athletics Blog

09/05/2007

Inside Athletics: George Smith

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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