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UVA, JMU and Virginia Tech spent $374K on football fireworks

Sabrina Moreno

a football stadium packed with people as fireworks go off around it — Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium as the Hokies took the field back in 2021. Photo: Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Three Virginia universities spent more than $120,000 each on fireworks during the 2025 college football season, according to records obtained by investigative newsletter FOIAball.

Why it matters: As fireworks become a staple of the modern college football experience, one season of them can cost about double the median annual income in Richmond.

By the numbers: UVA, JMU and Virginia Tech collectively paid over $374,000 for home-game fireworks last season, per FOIAball.

UVA: $128,737.
JMU: $124,850.
Virginia Tech: $120,620.

The intrigue: All three are in the top 10 out of nearly 40 schools that the newsletter analyzed.

But they trail behind Ole Miss, who took the No. 1 spot for shelling out $212,000 for fireworks last year.

Fun fact: Virginia Tech pays up to $19,000 per game on the pyrotechnics used during its famous Lane Stadium entrance to Metallica's "Enter Sandman," per procurement documents.

And when the Hokies score a touchdown, that's between $750 and $1,000 in fireworks.
Plus: One of the Hokies' pyrotechnicians has also worked shows for the Richmond Flying Squirrels and the Richmond Raceway.

The bottom line: No matter how good (JMU) or bad (Tech) Virginia's football teams are, schools are putting up the big bucks to turn home games into a production.

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UVA, JMU and Virginia Tech spent $374K on football fireworks

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