Black Athletes in the Spotlight: HBCU Sports & Local Highlights
- House Bill 117 proposes $40 million for planning, design, and initial construction of an on-campus Jackson State stadium.
- Bill was driven by alumni and administration aiming to enhance student life and attract more students.
- Previous measures like HB137 and Senate Bill 3151 failed due to committee setbacks and location disagreements.
- Governor Tate Reeves has expressed opposition to using taxpayer dollars for the stadium, favoring alumni donations instead.
As one of the leaders in FCS attendance annually, Jackson State has made the most of its stay at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
A renewed push for funding could bring JSU football games closer to campus.
Mississippi Rep. Robert Johnson introduced House Bill 117 on Jan. 7, “advocating for $40 million to be appropriated out of any money in the State General Fund not otherwise appropriated to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, effective July 1, 2026.”
Johnson told Jackson TV station WLBT the bill’s introduction “was driven by alumni and administration who want a modern, on-campus stadium to enhance student life and attract more students and would serve as seed money for planning, design, and initial building stages.”
HB117 is the newest in a recent line of proposed legislative measures to secure funding for an on-campus stadium for Tigers football.
During the 2025 legislative session, Johnson introduced HB137, which didn’t make it past the committee phase. Senate Bill 3151, introduced by current Jackson Mayor John Horhn, suffered the same fate because a location couldn’t be agreed upon.
Current Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves suggested in 2022 that he wasn’t pleased with the notion that Jackson State could fund a proposed football stadium using taxpayer dollars.
“I’m not real excited about Jackson State building a football stadium,” he said then. “At most of our universities, they build stadiums through donations of alumni.”
Jackson State most recently conducted a feasibility study on the matter, according to its 2021 strategic plan.
A state Senate bill introduced to provide $40 million to JSU for its stadium efforts did not advance past a legislative session.
Jackson State had hoped to construct a stadium within five years, athletic director Ashley Robinson previously told a local Jackson TV station in 2021.
Jackson State led FCS in attendance in 2025, averaging 28,733 fans per game.”
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