CANTON, Ohio – A booth at Sunday’s Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic was selling shirts, but the tables weren’t filled with apparel representing the teams playing, Miles College and Virginia Union University. Instead, they were about HBCUs in general. Some said: “HBCUS: It’s a different world.”
During the past several days, a bit of that world was shared in Northeast Ohio – good for the schools and the region. The annual game offers visibility and networking opportunities for the schools while the region stands to gain from an economic benefit of visitors coming in to sightsee, go to dinner and check out attractions. The “Clash at the Classic” is one game, but it’s wrapped in several days of activities, networking events and tourism opportunities.
The annual game takes on the feel of a festival at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Village campus. On an adjacent field, hundreds of people hung out near fraternity tents and food trucks in a tailgate area as people danced in front of a stage during a gospel concert.
The thing about HBCU is pride – not just in a specific school but in the shared community of historically black colleges and universities. Sure there was a stray Myles Garrett jersey in the crowd, but other schools not playing were represented – Central State, Delaware State, Fisk.
Related: Why do HBCUs play football in NE Ohio? Pride, history and visibility are at stake
This year, the game featured a new format, pitting the winners of the Division II Central Athletic Intercollegiate Association and the Southern Athletic Intercollegiate Conference. Both schools were coming off 10-win seasons as they began 2025 play in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
An announcer addressed the crowd before the game, saying HBCUs have created a “tradition and community.” Those are concepts Tristan Vallard knows firsthand.
As fans enjoyed 70-degree weather close to kickoff, he helped staff the tent selling HBCU shirts. Vallard, from Youngstown, played football for Arkansas-Pine Bluff and is now a teacher who also coaches basketball.
“I’m always supporting HBCUs in one way or another,” said Vallard near an array of shirts, one of which had a design with the names of all the HBCUs – more than 100 schools. “This is such an important event. It’s not just football. It’s like a community event at the same time. Any time people from different types of HBCUs can come together and celebrate, HBCUs are getting the spotlight on them and it’s an important thing.
“It’s a good experience to see everybody come out and really get to experience what HBCU football is all about with the band, halftime show, tailgating – all that stuff.”
That includes a college fair and academic recruiting options for the schools in a large metropolitan area.
“It’s just a good thing to see how far HBCUs have come to where they are now,” Vallard said.
“It’s a really good thing to see all these people come out from this area and even far beyond traveling just to watch the game.”
And the significance of those travelers is not lost on folks like Tonja Marshall, chief marketing officer of Visit Canton, the tourism arm in Stark County. It extends “far beyond dollars and cents,” she said.
Marshall said the event “provides meaningful community engagement opportunities” that include a literacy initiative in Stark and Summit County elementary schools, a Habitat for Humanity Day of Service, community career fair and the college fair to give students a taste of what HBCUs are about. Also, she said, the Pro Football Hall of Fame gains a platform “to honor and celebrate the legacy of HBCUs and their impact on the game of professional football.” The Black College Football Hall of Fame is housed within the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Last year’s game was estimated to have generated $1,393,156 in direct sales, she said, attracting about 1,725 out-of-state visitors, 1,256 day trips and 1,619 local attendees. Tertiary events throughout the weekend are estimated to have drawn an additional 2,111 attendees, generating an additional $777,608 in local spending.
The Hall of Fame said this year’s BCFHOF Classic also drew 30 sponsors, something that is “invaluable,” said Pat Lindesmith, the Hall of Fame’s executive vice president of sponsorships and partnerships, in a press release.
Visit Canton has a welcome center on the Hall of Fame Village campus, offering an opportunity for visitors to learn about the region.
The center – which is sandwiched near several restaurants and sells shirts, decals, key chains, ornaments and more – offers information on area attractions. It even has works on consignment from Stark County artists.
Eighty percent of visitors on non-event days spend time at the Hall of Fame, said Carole Camarata, working Sunday afternoon.
They ask about restaurants and merchandise and sometimes say, “Oh, where is this place?” she said.
The stadium doesn’t have a home team or league, so events in the Village are key to boosting tourism in addition to the thousands drawn for the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week. A ribs burnoff is held over Memorial Day weekend, plus soccer tournaments take place on adjacent fields.
The game is the centerpiece per se of this week’s events and attractions but in name only. This year’s game saw 3,223 people watch Virginia Union beat Miles, 45-3, in the lowest attended Classic, breaking last year’s record of 3,747 who saw Virginia State defeat Benedict College. It was also the biggest blowout in the history of the game, which was televised by NFL Network.
Some turned out to support HBCUs in general while others were alums of the schools. But at least one fan from either side had a vested interest in traveling to the game.
Bernard Jefferson was in the stadium to watch his son, Quincy, a safety for Virginia Union.
Jefferson, a computer analyst from Richmond, Virginia, is in town for two days and was heading to Cleveland to “see some of the sights.” He said he travels to watch his son play, though most games are closer, usually in North and South Carolina. And most of the stadiums are smaller than Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, which seats about 20,000. He hasn’t had much time to spend with his son, who was in Ohio for the first time.
“They’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to talk to him,” he said. “They went to the Hall of Fame and a dinner.”
Alvin Winters of Clanton, Alabama, also was in town cheering on a child – his daughter, a Miles cheerleader.
“We did a lot of sightseeing,” said Winters, who was spending four days here during his first trip to Northeast Ohio. “We went to the Hall of Fame.”
And while lots of folks were sightseeing, checking out the museum, Winters also was interested in the game.
“I love football,” he said. “If it were up to me I’d sit at home all day and watch football.”
History
Click on the year for coverage of previous games:
2024: Virginia State 23, Benedict College 7
2023: Virginia Union 45, Morehouse College 13
2022: Central State 41, Winston-Salem State 21
2021: Grambling State 16, Tennessee State 10
2020: No game (coronavirus pandemic)
2019: Alabama A&M 35, Morehouse College 30
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