Mayor George Flaggs Jr. on Friday spoke again about a recent city sponsorship that has come under fire after the Board of Mayor and Alderman (BOMA) voted 2-1 Monday to spend $1,000 for two tickets to a Jackson State University NIL fundraising event.

“Let me clarify this NIL and $1,000, because I got hit real hard in my state of the city,” Flaggs said during Friday’s regular BOMA meeting. “The $1,000 was for a sponsorship. The tickets are only $45. They’re $500 per table for this event. We did a sponsorship package.”

Flaggs’ comments are in reference to Monday’s agenda item, which presented a $1,000 sponsorship for Ken Clark on behalf of Friends of KC-1400 Inc. dba KC-1400 Collective for NIL Jackson State Football Fundraiser pursuant to Section 17-3-1 and Section 17-3-3 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended.

While Flaggs and Ward 1 Alderman Thomas “T.J.” Mayfield each voted in favor of the item, Ward 2 Alderman Alex Monsour voted against it, calling it a “bad idea” and an irresponsible way to spend taxpayer dollars.

Monsour’s reservations, he said, were over the fact that the fundraising event is for NIL monies. Standing for “Name, Image, Likeness,” the NIL refers to the rights of collegiate student-athletes to profit monetarily from anything bearing their names, images or likenesses, opening the door for everything from corporate sponsorships to retail revenue and royalties.

“I would like to explain why I’m voting no, and it has nothing to do with Jackson State University,” Monsour said during Monday’s meeting. “In my opinion, I think that NIL has put universities like Jackson State, Alcorn State, Southern Miss, and so many other universities in a bad situation to where they are having to raise money in order to pay for players. Another reason is I don’t think it’s incumbent on the City of Vicksburg to pick one university when we have five in the state and to put that money towards NIL and purchasing players. I don’t think the taxpayers’ money should be used for that purpose itself.”

During Flaggs’ state of the city address Wednesday, resident Tommy Hughes asked a number of questions related to the sponsorship, including whether or not the pushback from the community would persuade him to recall the funds.

“Why should I?” Flaggs said. “I’m not going to do it, and let me tell you why: Because that is a part of the sponsorship for what’s going on there. 

“It’s going to sponsor what the organization is putting on,” Flaggs said earlier in the meeting. “I misrepresented that.”

Flaggs said the rationale behind the sponsorship was related to Jackson State University’s economic investments in the City of Vicksburg.

“Jackson State and Alcorn State are some of the biggest economic investors in this community,” he said. 

“I don’t know,” Flaggs said of the total number of dollars spent by the city in donations over the past 12 months. “But, I can say this, and that is that in order to get people to come to Vicksburg, you have to promote. In order to promote, you have to pay for it.”   

Friday, Flaggs reiterated that the city negotiated the price of the sponsorship and chose the least expensive option.

“Let me just share something with you now,” he said. “And which one would you pick? Platinum sponsor, $25,000; golden sponsor, $15,000; silver sponsor, $10,000; bronze sponsor, $7,500; support sponsor, $5,000; tiger sponsor ($2,500); friends sponsor, $1,000; reserve two seats for the event. That’s all it is.”

Flaggs also asked why the City of Vicksburg is able to sponsor one organization without public blowback, but not others.

“We do not put on the NIL. Now, having said that, we have a young man from Vicksburg that has been noted all around the world, except for here, in his athletics ability. Kevin Dent, I’ll call his name, played at Jackson State and everywhere. Why we can’t give $1,000 for him? It makes no sense. We give $41,000-and-something to the Miss Mississippi pageant. We’re about to give, on this agenda, $2,500 for the United Way. We give to everybody.”

Flaggs also said every sponsorship or letter goes through a committee for approval to be put on the agenda prior to meetings.

“I don’t put nothing on the agenda,” Flaggs said. “I just vote. I’ve heard the words sick and tired and now I’m sick and tired of this NIL.”