As some of you may know, the State Fair Classic is quickly approaching us.
Our Grambling State G-Men will face off against the Prairie View A&M University Black Panthers on Saturday Sept. 25 at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
The State Fair Classic is an annual college football game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Prairie View A&M University Panthers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The State Fair Classic, held annually at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, began in 1925 featuring the Wiley College Wildcats and the Langston University Lions.
The first game was played on Monday, Oct. 19, 1925.
Both teams met four consecutive years in Dallas before Prairie View replaced Langston in 1929.
An early concept of “Monday Night Football” could also be attributed to the Texas State Fair Classic and Louisiana’s own State Fair Classic, as the contests took place on Monday nights from the 1920s to the 1960s.
The State Fair Classic is accompanied by pre and post-game performances, press conferences, luncheons, fundraisers held by alumni, pep rallies, golf tournaments, jazz shows, comedy shows, tailgating and battle of the bands participated by four different bands.
The classic has an estimated economic impact of over $8 million for the city of Dallas alone. In 2017, the game’s attendance was up to 55,231. This solidified the event as one of the largest HBCU football classics in the nation and the largest Division 1 FCS football game in Texas.
There are a week full of events being held.
On Monday, Sept. 20, there will be a press conference. On Friday, Sept. 24, there will be a High School Battle of the Bands. There will also be a Radio One Golf Classic. On Saturday, September 25, the pregame concert will include artist Dru Hill. At 4 P.M., the actual game will kick-off. At approximately 5:15 P.M. the half-time show will take off. At 7:30 P.M. the post game concert featuring The Black Pumas will start.
Due to COVID-19, the State Fair of 2020 was postponed so this year’s game is highly anticipated.
Student Shalia Holmes said she was expecting a lot from the State Fair Classic weekend. “Freshman year, all everybody ever talked about was going to the State Fair Classic game,” Holmes said. “Both of my parents went to Grambling so it was nothing new to me. We went a few times as a family, but experiencing it as an actual student is a whole different feeling. You get to have an actual reason to be there. I always enjoyed my time there but it was just something about being a Tiger that just made it hit different. From the concert to the game to the halftime show and then the after parties? You can’t do anything but enjoy yourself.”
The game is approaching us quickly.
Tigers make sure you guys get those tickets to support our G-Men!
