Port City Classic Trades Alabama State For Tuskegee

Alabama State's schedule release missed something. There was no game at venerable Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Port City Classic has seemed to vanish into the Mobile Bay. For the first time since 2022, there will only be one SWAC game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Instead, the Port City Classic organizers have traded in Alabama State for Tuskegee. The Golden Tigers will host Fort Valley State on September 5th instead of the Hornets.

The Port City Classic is a commendable effort by the city of Mobile at more usefulness for Ladd-Peebles Stadium after South Alabama left for its on-campus stadium, Hancock-Whitney Stadium. The Port City Classic has lacked the fanfare of its counterpart, the Gulf Coast Challenge. The lassic peaked in attendance in its first year, drawing only 8,601 fans, 22 percent of Ladd-Peebles' capacity. This was also nearly half of the Gulf Coast Challenge's lowest attendance. The Port City Classic went out with a whimper this past season with only 6,123 fans showing up to see Mississippi Valley State play Alabama State.

The contract to last year's Port City Classic reveals reasons outside of attendance that may have pushed Alabama State to retain their home game. The game's organizers, Brothers Working Together, paid Alabama State and Mississippi Valley State $300,000, but retained revenue from tickets, merchandise, concessions, and sponsorship. While providing an area at no cost to conduct a pep rally on the eve of the game, Brothers Working Together deferred the costs of conducting the pep rally to both schools.

$300,000 is a hefty sum, but Alabama State can easily make that money at home, while saving their fans a trip south. The Hornets averaged 19,959 fans in four games at ASU Stadium. There is no need for them to play games at a larger venue, especially when the Port City Classic routinely drew around a third of Alabama State's average home attendance.

The school also saves costs and avoids the logistical headache of planning a pep rally for a neutral site classic. Finally, giving away a home game could stall some of the local buzz from Alabama State's best season in over two decades.

Alabama State's abandonment of the Port City Classic points to a larger problem. The Gulf Coast Challenge went all-in on the attention that accompanied Deion Sanders' tenure at Jackson State. In 2021, Alabama A&M hosted Tuskegee at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in front of 12,500 fans. The following year, Jackson State came to Mobile and drew 32,500 fans. In 2023, when Sanders left for Colorado, the attendance dropped by nearly half, with 19,107 fans watching Alabama A&M play the Tigers. The attendance has steadily declined since, with 14,517 showing up last year.

While Tuskegee drew a larger attendance than Alabama State did at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, the college football bubble at the stadium may be microscopic. The Golden Tigers are a new face, but the Port City Classic has low importance on a schedule loaded with HBCU classics. Tuskegee will play in two other neutral site classics at Montgomery's Cramton Bowl in the Red Tails Classic against West Alabama and the 87th Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic. On top of that, the Golden Tigers will travel to Alabama State for the 102nd Turkey Day Classic, which could be the last in the series. This does not bode well for the Port City Classic.

The Port City Classic lives on with a different anchor school, but it may be time for organizers to realize that Mobile only has space for one classic in an outdated stadium. Tuskegee may bring a fresh fanbase, but the charm may wear off quickly.