Birmingham leaders agreed to host multiple college sporting events involving Historically Black Colleges and Universities over the next two years.
The city approved plans for two SWAC football games at Legion Field during a city council meeting Tuesday. The first game will be held on Aug. 26. Another game will be held in 2027.
“Any time we can get heads in beds in our hotels, people eating in our restaurants, or shopping at our businesses, it’s an economic win that we can keep stacking,” Councilor Hunter Williams said in a city press release.
The city also agreed to host the 2027 NCAA Division II Track and Field Championship at the CrossPlex.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference is made up of historically Black colleges and universities. In 2022, Birmingham signed a three-year agreement with SWAC to create the SWAC Classic.
That year, Jackson State University played against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. In 2023 and 2024 Jackson State took on Southern University.
The city signed a contract for those three years to pay up to $300,000 per year to the league.
“We want to control our own narrative and we want to control our own brand,” SWAC Commissioner Charles McClelland told AL.com in 2022 about the positive impact of the contract with the city on the future of the conference.
The conference previously struggled to find a secure financial model.
“We think we can change the way business is done with HBCUs,” he said.