The Magic City Classic is an annual

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

"classic" that features

Alabama A&M University Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M or AAMU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. It was one of about 180 " normal s ...

and

Alabama State University Alabama State University (ASU, Bama State, or Alabama State) is a public historically Black university in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1867, during the Reconstruction era, it was one of about 180 " normal schools" established by state gove ...

, the two largest historically black universities in the state. It is played at

Legion Field Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

(nicknamed the "Magic City"). The classic has become one of the highest attended Division I FCS (formerly Division I-AA) games in the nation and the largest event in Birmingham carrying a nearly $25 million economic impact. The stadium attendance averages over 60,000 annually. The first game between the two schools was played in 1924. It has been an uninterrupted, annual tradition since 1945 and has been played at Legion Field since 1940. The classic is the largest

HBCU Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

event in the nation attracting nearly 200,000 participants. The Alabama A&M Bulldogs lead the series with a record of 44–42–3 all-time (as of 2024).

Other activities

Many festivities are held in conjunction with the game, including a pep rally, comedy show, scholarship breakfast, concert/festival, soirees,

tailgating Tailgating is the action of a driver driving behind another vehicle while not leaving sufficient distance to stop without causing a collision if the vehicle in front stops suddenly. The safe distance for following another vehicle varies depend ...

, block parties, alumni gatherings, 2-hour parade, and a popular "Battle of the Bands" between AAMU’s Marching Maroon and White Band and ASU's Mighty Marching Hornets. Festivities begin the week of Saturday's game. In recent years, the classic has attracted numerous

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

celebrities, public figures, and elected officials to Birmingham.

History

References

External links

Official website
{{Southwestern Athletic Conference football rivalry navbox Alabama A&M Bulldogs football Alabama State Hornets football American football competitions in Birmingham, Alabama Black college football classics 1924 establishments in Alabama

Other activities

History

See also

References

External links