By Joshua J. Darling, Sports Information Director
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The national television landscape is beginning to round in to focus and Alabama A&M football will have more than half of their 11 games aired on network broadcasts, all of them on the road, as media outlets locked in their schedules entering the season this week.
The majority of those will air on the ESPN family of networks but the season will actually kick off at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network with a trip an hour and a half down the road to Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday, September 1.
From there they will face their second straight Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent as they face Troy at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 before the TV slate hits the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) schedule. That will begin with a 5 p.m. (CST) ESPN+ broadcast in the league opener at Florida A&M on September 24 before one of the ESPN platforms picks up the Magic City Classic (2:30 p.m.) against arch rival Alabama State on October 29.
The next time the Maroon and White hit the national airwaves it will make program history. With ESPNU choosing to head to Itta Bena, Mississippi to broadcast the game against Mississippi Valley State, that game has been moved to the bright lights of Thursday, November 3 with a 6:30 p.m. kick off.
With that game being moved up it will mark the first time in at least the NCAA Division I Era in the program’s history that A&M will play multiple Thursday games in a single campaign. In 23 previous seasons the Bulldogs have taken the field on that day just three times, including for last year’s 30-27 rain soaked victory at Bethune-Cookman (9/16). It will also be the first time that the program has had back-to-back years with a Thursday contest.
The final regular season airing will come in one of the most highly anticipated games of the year as Alabama A&M renews their newfound rivalry with Jackson State on November 12. That game will take place in Mobile, Alabama as part of the Gulf Coast Challenge and be carried on ESPN+.
The Bulldogs four home games against Austin Peay (9/17), Bethune-Cookman (10/1), Grambling (10/8) and Texas Southern (11/19) will be aired on the Alabama A&M Athletics YouTube channel.
NATIONAL TV BROADCAST SCHEDULE
9/1/22 at UAB (CBS Sports Network)
9/10/22 at Troy (ESPN3)
9/24/22 at Florida A&M (ESPN+)
10/29/22 at Alabama State (ESPN Networks)%
11/3/22 at Mississippi Valley State (ESPNU)
11/12/22 at Jackson State (ESPN+)$
%Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Alabama
$Gulf Coast Challenge in Mobile, Alabama
THURSDAY NIGHT HISTORY
September 16, 2021 – W, 30-27 at Bethune Cookman
October 13, 2011 – W, 24-21 vs. Texas Southern (Later Vacated)
October 18, 2007 – W, 31-14 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
