An online rumor that circulated on Facebook falsely claimed that Jackson State officials had taken a percentage of ticket sale revenue that was contractually obligated for Sanders.
@stephenasmith is there hope in you learning if any of this is factual pic.twitter.com/Eodx3Lr2LA
— Brian (Coach Taz) Dowdell (@DC_Team_Florida) December 9, 2022
The viral post was then later tied to a September interview Sanders conducted with “Earn Your Leisure” where the coach suggested that someone was “stealing” funds.
“How can we have 60,000 people in the stadium and you told me we sold out? I check the receipts and we only sold 28,000 tickets? Y’all better find out who’s stealing because that affects my pocket,” he said.
Sanders has a clause in his contract that states if a JSU game sells more than 30,000 tickets, then he would receive 10% of the total revenue of those ticket sales. Jackson State averaged 42,049 fans, tops in the FCS for 2022.
In response to the rumors, Jackson State officials explained the university “has honored all financial obligations” related to Sanders’ contract.
“The video in question was filmed on September 20 on our campus, the school said in a statement obtained by WLBT-TV in Jackson. “Unfortunately, a seconds-long excerpt using a hypothetical example from an over 60-minute interview is being used out of context and circulated as fact.”
Sanders, who will coach his final game as JSU coach in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17, has not publicly commented on the matter.
