GAMEPLAN: New Classic test for FAMU

FAMU ATHLETICS

MOBILE, Alabama -- When Athletic Director Milton Overton Jr. arrived at Florida A&M, he said he wanted to establish classics for the university’s football team to play.

Classic games played at neutral sites have the potential to bring in massive amounts of cash for Florida A&M’s athletic program. The always-popular Florida Classic, which drew 45,728 fans in 2015, brought in more than $800,000 for the athletic department.

The Tuskegee game, dubbed the 5th Quarter Classic, will earn FAMU about $350,000, Overton said in March. The game will be played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., which has a 33,471 capacity.

Overton said classics are the way to avoid “money games” against teams like Miami and Arkansas (FAMU plays the Razorbacks in 2017).

“The surveys, the data and the money all make sense,” Overton said in a previous interview with the Tallahassee Democrat.

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