Vanderbilt’s 40-35 win over Alabama last weekend was a historic occasion for the school’s football program. Naturally, it led to overjoyed students and fans tearing down the south end zone goalpost at FirstBank Stadium, carrying them more than two miles through downtown Nashville, dumping them into the Cumberland River, where they were then fished out by the local fire department, returned to the school, cut into small pieces and sold back to fans for thousands of dollars each.
You know, the usual.
The Vandy goalpost traveled almost 3 miles to get to the Cumberland River 🔥😳
From tearing it down to ending up in the river it only took @VandyFootball fans a little over an hour to get the job done 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ULSZyNHTk2
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 6, 2024
Vanderbilt Football capitalized on the excitement around its big win by selling anything and everything possible that was on the field for the game. The first to sell out were sections of the south end zone goalpost — four-inch pieces were sold for $1,005 each and eight-inch pieces were sold for $4,035 each. When those sold out, they put pieces of the crossbar from the north end zone goalpost, which hadn’t been torn down by fans after the Alabama game, in three-inch ($1,005 each) and six-inch segments ($4,035 each). They did not appear to sell out before the auction event ended on Thursday evening.
A new goalpost was quickly installed in the south end zone on Tuesday.
“According to a program spokesperson, Vanderbilt already had a backup goalpost on hand,” The Tennessean reported. “The school always has backups in case of damage, whether it be a rowdy postgame celebration or severe weather. That goalpost was installed, and the school then ordered new backup goalposts. Those will take about a week to arrive.”
Thank you all for your support over the last few days! Goal post pieces are being cut up now by our friends on campus! Check out our auction site if you haven’t already!https://t.co/cxGqopyHxQ pic.twitter.com/uoNK24nLix
— Mark Carter (@NCCMarkCarter) October 8, 2024
Vanderbilt was fined $100,000 by the Southeastern Conference because fans stormed the field after the game, so the win came with a considerable cost. On top of that is the matter of replacing the goalposts that were torn down, cut up and sold off. After Tennessee beat Alabama in 2022 and fans tore down the goalpost at Neyland Stadium, UT estimated that a new goalpost would cost “between $10,000 and $20,000 before installation,” according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, so the revenue generated by selling them off in such small pieces far outstripped the cost of replacement.
Other items were put on the auction block by Vanderbilt, including game-used helmets/footballs/pylons with personalized autographs from head coach Clark Lea, which sold for between $1,850 and $31,090, autographed and game-worn jerseys (quarterback Diego Pavia’s sold for the most at $18,290 — he even wrote “Vandy we turnt” on it), and a goal post pad.
Aside from those items, Vanderbilt is also selling more traditional merchandise, like T-shirts and physical tickets, to commemorate the win.
On Oct. 26, Vanderbilt will host No. 1 Texas. If they win that game, they might just sell the whole stadium.
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(Top photo: Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
