Reeves admitted that the ban on tailgating in the COVID-19 epidemic will not be popular. Tailgating in Mississippi is more popular than the actual game. Reeves, however, praised the fact that Mississippi will have football on Thursday. Some conferences like the Pac-12 or Big Ten have cancelled their fall season. He said that this was an effort which he and the universities had worked together to establish the floor. “…This is the minimum each school must do this fall in order to keep spectators and players safe and allow college football to take place.” Some athletic conferences have decided not to participate this fall. However, the Southeastern Conference (of which Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi are members) will start their football season Sept. 26. The University of Southern Mississippi will host South Alabama in its first football season on Sept. 3. The Southwestern Athletic Conference (Jackson State, Alcorn State, and Mississippi Valley) will host a spring football schedule. Reeves made the announcement during his almost daily coronavirus update. Reeves stated, “I have made it clear to universities that they must work hard to ensure these guidelines are strictly enforced.” Reeves stated that the guidelines require six feet of separation between people from different families. To limit crowding, the guidelines require hand sanitizer to be provided at the stadium. When spectators are not sitting, a mask mandate will be in place. Reeves stated that stadium luxury boxes will be governed by the current executive order, which limits crowd size to 10 indoors and 20 outdoors.