Jackson State College paid $800,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Summitt Administration Company in 2022 after the college pulled out of the ultimate two years of its contract to play within the Southern Heritage Traditional soccer recreation.
The settlement paperwork had been obtained solely by the Clarion Ledger by a Freedom of Info Act public information request. In response to the paperwork, the lawsuit was settled on or about Oct. 31, 2022.
In response to the lawsuit, Jackson State and Summitt Administration Company entered right into a five-year settlement on or about Sept. 10, 2019, for the soccer crew to play within the Southern Heritage Traditional. In February 2022, Jackson State stated it could not play within the Southern Heritage Traditional in 2023 and 2024.
On March 14, 2022, Summitt Administration Corp., owned by Fred Jones, sued Jackson State and the SWAC for breach of contract. In response to the lawsuit, the Southwestern Athletic Convention was included as a result of it dedicated “wrongful interference with contractual relations” when it pursued Jackson State as a participant for a brand new soccer showcase occasion, the SWAC Traditional. Jones informed the Clarion Ledger in January 2024 that the lawsuit with the SWAC had but to be settled. Jackson State’s VP/Athletic Director, Ashley Robinson declined to touch upon the settlement.
For 29 consecutive years, followers and alumni from each faculties deliberate their autumns across the recreation. Fraternities, sororities, dignitaries and tailgaters regarded ahead to assembly as quickly because the gates opened on Wednesday and partying till Sunday.
The video games had been performed at Simmons Financial institution Liberty Stadium in Memphis, midway between the colleges. The typical attendance was 47,955. Then-coach Deion Sanders stated in an Instagram publish the day after Jackson State introduced the withdrawal that the choice was made for monetary causes.
“Seven busses for the band. We’ve got 4 buses with all our individuals,” he stated. “And who else goes? Administration. Resort lodging. Meals, all that…By the point we get again, we’re broke.”
There was a buzz in January 2024 amongst Jackson State followers that Jackson State might return to the Southern Heritage Classsic in 2025, however Jones dismissed the likelihood, “There’s completely no reality to the rumors that Jackson State and Tennessee State will play in 2025,” Fred Jones, founder and proprietor of the Southern Heritage Traditional, informed the Clarion Ledger. “I don’t know the place these rumors come from, however it isn’t true.”
