TOP HBCU CLASSICS BY ATTENDANCE - 2017
5. Southern Heritage Classic: 47,407 Fans, Tennessee State beats Jackson State, 17-15, Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee, Sept. 9, 2017. Record Attendance 1997: 61,171. Largest attended FCS football game played in Tennessee.
4. Florida Blue Florida Classic: 47,819 Fans, Bethune-Cookman defeats Florida A&M, 29-24, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida, Nov. 18, 2017, Record Attendance 2003: 73,358. Since its inception in 1978, the game has now seen over 1.8 million spectators attend the game (1,892,687).
3. State Fair Classic: 55,231 Fans, Grambling State beats Prairie View A&M, 34-21, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX, Oct. 7, 2017. The State Fair Classic is the largest Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) football game in Texas.
2. Magic City Classic: 61,221 Fans, Alabama State wins game against Alabama A&M, 21-16, Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama, Oct. 28, 2017. AAMU and ASU has played in the Magic City Classic since 1945 with AAMU leading the series 39-34-3. Economic Impact is $24.3 million.
1. Bayou Classic: 66,550 Fans, Grambling State beat Southern, 30-21, Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov. 24, 2017. This game has been nationally televised since 1991 by NBC Network (broadcast costs paid by Southern and Grambling State).
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- Every time the Grambling and Southern football teams descend on New Orleans over Thanksgiving weekend for the Bayou Classic, the plethora of pageantry not only includes the rivalry game, but also a week-long, immersive happening, and a festive social and cultural celebration.
However, underneath the merriment and revelry is economics. By attracting fans, students, journalists and other enthusiasts to New Orleans by the thousands, the Bayou Classic raises tens of thousands of dollars for scholarships.
The game also provides each school’s athletic department with a significant shot of crucial funding that’s used to balance the books for the sports programs.
“It’s critical for us to have these rivalry games,” said Grambling Athletic Director Paul Bryant. “It’s all to generate revenue by putting a spotlight on our kids.”
Fortunately, the annual event has been on the upswing since experiencing dire straits for several years, especially during and after Hurricane Katrina. The Classic’s rebirth was highlighted by a recent annual survey that ranked it as the most-attended HBCU classic of 2017, with 66,550 fervent followers filling the Superdome to witness a 30-21 Grambling victory. The Bayou Classic edged out such similarly significant clashes like the Magic City Classic, the State Fair Classic and the Florida Classic.
In addition, the Southern-Grambling showdown – a rivalry that stretches back nearly 90 years and has formally existed as Bayou Classic since 1974 – claimed the top spot among the 35 most-attended Football Championship Subdivision games last year.
The rankings reveal the significant financial and institutional improvement exhibited by the Bayou Classic; since the management firm NOCCI took over the organizational and outreach aspects in 2017, attendance has shown a marked increase of more than 63 percent.
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