Video: Winning College Football Teams Could Impact State Economy

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — The state of Mississippi is front and center on the national stage in college football. Mississippi State is now ranked #1 and Ole Miss is ranked #3 in the country.

With all the hype and attention brought from winning sports teams, Mississippi stands to gain economically and academically. Research suggests that student enrollment increases for universities with football teams that consistently perform well on the national stage. Winning seasons can lead to more alumni giving, and attract more business, giving the state an economic boost.

“Alumni who were perhaps disengaged get excited again and find a way to plug into their university and that can increase funds for student scholarships, for academic programming, for faculty endowments. All things that will help the university grow. That’s good for Mississippi State University and that’s good for the entire state,” says Kathleen Thomas, Associate Professor of Economics at Mississippi State University.

There were over 60,000 people in MSU’s stands Saturday, one of the largest crowds on record.