The Southern Miss football stadium is getting its first name change in nearly 50 years.
M.M. Roberts Stadium will become Renasant Stadium effective Friday, with Mississippi’s Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees approving the move Thursday. The name change follows Southern Miss striking a 10-year, $13.7 million naming-rights agreement with Tupelo-headquartered Renasant Bank.
The stadium’s new name will run through June 30, 2026, as the agreement is currently drafted.
The facility was named M.M. Roberts Stadium in 1976 to honor former Southern Miss football player and alumnus Malcolm Mabry Roberts, who passed away in 1982. Roberts suited up for the Golden Eagles in 1914-15 and was an attorney by trade following his college years. Southern Miss officials boast that his contributions played a vital role in the school’s development into a comprehensive university.
The change to Renasant Stadium serves as a means of Southern Miss landing a new money stream. In the current revenue-sharing era of college athletics, programs across the nation have sought ways to reel in new revenue sources so that they can pay student-athletes. The NCAA currently allows Division I programs to pay student-athletes around $21 million from their athletics budgets.
Southern Miss will begin the upcoming football season at Renasant Stadium versus Alcorn State on Sept. 5. The black and gold will be under the guidance of offensive coordinator turned head coach Blake Anderson and a supporting cast of more than 70 new players.