The parade. The pageantry. The parties, lots of parties. Especially the tailgate parties around Legion Field. And did I mention the game at the center of it all?
It’s the 71st Annual State Farm Magic City Classic, which officially kicked-off at a Wednesday press conference where the coaches of the two rival HBCUs at the center of this activity promised a high-energy, combative face-off on the football field on this last weekend of October 2012.
More than 65,000 people are expected to turn out for the annual match-up between Alabama State University’s Hornets and Alabama A&M Bulldogs. But 40,000 more won’t step foot inside Legion Field. Instead of buying tickets to completely fill the stadium, they’ll be tail-gating, which is something like a mass family reunion, even among strangers. The out-of-the-stadium street party is as much a part of the Classic’s tradition as the game itself.
Once again, the City of Birmingham is sponsoring a post-game concert featuring Frankie Beverly & Maze as a way to lure some of the tailgaters into the stadium and build further excitement for a game that’s garnering more celebrity and national attention.
The Classic Ambassador and Grand Marshall of this year’s Classic parade is the old-school throwback funk-meister, Bootsy Collins.
Classic bowl promoter Faye Oates of Bruno Event Team also announced that 
sponsorship for the Magic City Classic, now the nation’s largest bowl game among Historically Black Colleges and Universities, has exceeded $1 million dollars. State Farm Insurance is the event’s title sponsor for the fourth year. Coca-Cola is the presenting sponsor.
When Bruno Event Team took on the responsibility of managing the Classic and raising money for its schools 12 years ago, $1 million was a high bar to reach initially, Oates said.
But with the radio celebrities like nationally-syndicated Fly Jock Tom Joyner that now make the Classic an annual pilgrimage and the thousands who spill into and mill around the stadium – not to mention the fans who watch on ESPN stations – that amount and more should be expected.
“When you think of the per person spend – the chicken, the fish, the ribs, the propane tanks and the gas to cook them – it’s got to be hundreds of dollars. And that’s not even the entertainment portion that are outside our control like the concerts and the parties and the clubs, and the clothes people buy for them all of that in Birmingham,” Oates said.
Additionally, the Magic City Classic is now consistently the largest game of its kind in the country – no contest. She said it’s a challenge to top herself each year. Her biggest challenge? Getting the tailgaters in the stadium so that the game is sold out.
Hornet’s Head Coach Reggie Barlow and Bulldog’s Head Coach Anthony Jones both said they respect the skills and abilities of players on each team. Both said to expect a nail-biting game, as is often the case with last-minute plays that can turn the game in an instant.
“If you leave to go get that Coca-Cola,” Barlow said, in a joking reference to the presenting sponsor at Wednesday’s press conference, “you better make sure you have somebody who can tell you what’s going on because there will be something that happens during the game.”
“It’s always a great game and it always comes down to the fourth quarter, and this year I expect it to be no different,” Jones said later during the gathering. “You’re going to get the best efforts Alabama State and Alabama A&M, and you’ll get some great action.”
The teams will practice at Legion Field on Friday between 2 and 5 p.m.
Tickets are still available for purchase at local outlets. And the free shuttle services will be running from the Birmingham Crossplex, the Sheraton at the BJCC and at 23rd and 7th Avenue Downtown. The service hours will be extended to 10:30 p.m. to accommodate the post-game concert fans.
Street access immediately around Legion Field will be closed at 9 a.m.; no one will be allowed within the perimeter without a parking pass or neighborhood pass.
Want to know where to go for more Magic City Classic parties and events? Get a copy of the 2012 Classic Event Guide, a publication of Urbanham.com with Birmingham View Magazine. View it online or download it here.
Click on the player below to hear the press conference (approximately 30 minutes).
