The Morehouse Tuskegee Classic will not return to Birmingham in 2024.
At a Monday press conference at the Columbus Civic Center in Georgia, Lisa Goodwin, the chair of the Classic, made the official announcement.
“The Classic left in 2020, bound for Birmingham. And so, whatever happened there happened,” she said. “We don’t know the extent of why it did not work there in Birmingham, but all we know is we’re glad that it’s back home.”
The oldest HBCU rivalry in the nation had been in held in Columbus, Georgia, for more than 85 years, and was originally named the Tuskegee Morehouse Classic. The names switched to the Morehouse Tuskegee Classic once the city of Birmingham started to host the annual rivalry.
In 2021, the city of Birmingham entered an agreement with Tuskegee University and Morehouse College to host the Classic through 2023, effectively changing the name of the game to the Morehouse Tuskegee Classic.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, an alum of the Atlanta-based Morehouse and an advocate for expanding HBCU Classic culture in the city, said he’s grateful to have hosted the game for the last three years.
“The two institutions started reaching out to other cities and liked what they saw in Birmingham,” Woodfin told AL.com. “The whole idea was that it was in Columbus for all these years, and they would try somewhere else. They wanted to try for one, two, and three years. They liked it. But ultimately, when the contract expired they wanted to go back to where it’s been.”
The 2023 game drew 3,098 people inside Legion Field (which holds 71,594), an increase from the previous season’s 2,389. While Woodfin told AL.com he did not think low ticket sales were a factor in the game leaving Birmingham, Goodwin said attendance played a part when she was asked about it during the Columbus press conference.
“I certainly think so. Yes, I think those who have attended any of the games in Birmingham, they saw what the attendance was,” she said. “But now keep in mind, regardless of where you go — if it’s going to be Birmingham, Montgomery, Columbus, wherever — you’re going to see more alumni and friends as far as on the Tuskegee side regardless. Tuskegee fans come out in support, full support. And so we are trusting and hoping that the numbers increase on the Morehouse side. But definitely, Tuskegee Tigers don’t play.”
Cornell Wesley, the director of Birmingham’s Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity, agreed with this sentiment prior to the Morehouse Tuskegee Classic contract expiring. “Tuskegee is well represented, but we’re looking to deepen our impact and participation with the Morehouse community,” he said.
While it was unclear at the end of the 2023 game if the game would return to Birmingham, Goodwin this week said they intend to keep the game in Columbus for the foreseeable future.
