Jeff Lockridge

jlockridge@tennessean.com

Vanderbilt should pocket additional dollars while giving its season-ticket holders a different experience at no additional charge.

Ole Miss will get all the seats it can sell for an SEC road contest.

Vanderbilt's decision to move a Sept. 6 home football game against the Rebels to LP Field was billed Thursday as a means to expand the Commodores' brand in their home city while offering fans the flavor of downtown.

VIDEO:Vandy-Ole Miss game moved to LP Field

It remains to be seen whether fans view it that way or believe their university sacrificed its home-field advantage in a competitive league rivalry.

"Will there be more Ole Miss fans that would like to come? Yeah, but our fans should basically make sure that doesn't happen," Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams said. "Buy their tickets early and buy a lot of them."

Vanderbilt has played at LP Field four times — 2008 and 2012 Music City Bowl wins and regular-season losses to Tennessee in 2000 and 2002.

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Why move the Ole Miss game? The timing worked for LP Field officials, it's a relatively high-profile game, Vanderbilt still has seven home dates on campus in 2014 and, most importantly, Rebel fans travel well enough for the Commodores to benefit financially.

Vanderbilt's home opener against Ole Miss last season generated a sellout of 40,350 for a late Thursday start on ESPN, with Ole Miss fans accounting for one-fourth of the crowd. Ole Miss has not informed Vanderbilt what size ticket allotment it would like for this year's game, but the Commodores should be able to accommodate whatever the request is.

LP Field's capacity is 69,149.

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An estimated 35,000 Ole Miss fans attended the Music City Bowl last December at LP Field, and there are approximately 3,000 Mississippi alumni in Nashville, according to musiccityrebels.com.

"We have our home field, but this opportunity for our kids, to grow our fan base, I truly believe this is one that is welcomed," Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said.

"This puts us on a national stage considering we're the only (head-to-head) SEC game that week, so it gives us an opportunity to step out front and be the big dog and let's see what we do. … We feel like we want to be Nashville's college team, and we should be."

Tennessee announced two months ago that its 2015 opener against Alabama-Birmingham will be at LP Field. Williams said Vanderbilt's decision was not reactive and that he was in discussions about a game at LP Field long before that news broke.

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Williams also noted the Ole Miss game is not a trial run to see if Vanderbilt could consider moving all of its home games off campus in 2016 around the time the university hopes to begin stadium renovations.

"We're talking about one game and we've been able to figure out from a financial point of view how we wouldn't have to raise the (season) ticket price," Williams said. "To start thinking about a whole season down here would involve so many other things."

Williams declined to discuss the financial terms with LP Field but said both parties were pleased.

PHOTOS:Vanderbilt vs. Ole Miss in 2013

Season-ticket holders will receive an email in two weeks about how to select their seats for the game. Seat selection will be tiered based on National Commodore Club priority. There is no additional charge for seat "upgrades." This game is included in the season ticket packages and will not impact season ticket prices. Season-ticket holders can order up to 12 additional single-game tickets.

Student tickets will still be free, and Vanderbilt plans to provide shuttle service to and from the game for students.

"Last year for the Ole Miss game, it was packed and they had to turn students away," said Vanderbilt sophomore student Nicholas Denuzzo, who attended every 2013 home game.

"The pro to this is you'll have great participation in the Nashville community. The con is getting the students there. It's so much easier for me just to walk 500 yards to the stadium and not having to worry about transportation."

Vanderbilt helped pack LP Field — then Adelphia Coliseum — for its 2000 game with the Vols when 68,360 showed up. The largest crowd to see a college game at LP Field came in 2010 when 69,143 attended the Vols' 30-27 double-overtime loss to North Carolina in the Music City Bowl.

2014 VANDERBILT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 28: Temple

Sept. 6: Ole Miss (LP Field)

Sept. 13: Massachusetts

Sept. 20: South Carolina

Sept. 27: at Kentucky

Oct. 4: at Georgia

Oct. 11: Charleston Southern

Oct. 25: at Missouri

Nov. 1: Old Dominion

Nov. 8: Florida

Nov. 22: at Mississippi State

Nov. 29: Tennessee