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The well-anticipated matchup between Howard University and Florida A&M in the Invesco QQQ Orange Blossom Classic has a new time and broadcast home. The game between the two institutions will take place on Saturday, August 30th at 4 PM EST from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The new date and broadcast location are a change for the classic, which returned after a multi-decade hiatus in 2021. The date of the classic usually coincided with Labor Day Weekend and enjoyed a relatively light afternoon schedule on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. ESPN and ESPN2 has broadcast the previous Orange Blossom Classic games since its return from the extended hiatus, with only the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic airing at the same timeslot, although delayed by an hour.
The Orange Blossom Classic featured two matchups with the Deion Sanders-led Jackson State Tigers in 2021 and 2022, and featured Jackson State and Florida A&M from 2021-2023. Last year, North Carolina Central and Alabama State faced off in the game.
Per a statement by Kendra Bulluck-Major, Executive Director of the Orange Blossom Classic, to HBCU Legends, the move was made to ensure the game won't be in competition with the LSU vs. Clemson game.
“It's an hour later than our usual start time,” Kendra Bulluck-Major, Executive Director of the Orange Blossom Classic, told HBCU Legends. “We're still on linear TV, and we've got an hour later kick-off, we're happy with it. The viewership is still good. I think we are the main thing is to have us in a time slot where we're not competing against too many featured matchups. Coming on before LSU and Clemson is great.”
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In an interview with ClutchPoints in 2024, Majors detailed the Classic's working relationship with ESPN to televise the game.
“ESPN really understands the value, I believe, of amplifying the HBCU space and the HBCU culture, and specifically HBCU football,” Bulluck-Major said. “Having that partnership gives our student-athletes a chance to have exposure that they may not have otherwise. Two years, we were featured on ESPN2; year three, they moved us up to ESPN to the main network, and year four will continue to be on the ESPN main network. The fact that we've been able to not only maintain that relationship, but continue to extend that partnership and then at the same time keep that viewership where they're pleased enough to say we're going to keep on you on the main network, I think speaks a lot about not only the product we put out, but the institutions that we select to be a part of this game.”
The game was a major ratings success. North Carolina Central’s 31-24 victory over Alabama State in 2024 averaged 686,000 viewers on ESPN2, a significant increase from the 438,000 viewers who tuned in for the 2023 matchup between Florida A&M and Jackson State on ESPN.
The 2022 edition of the game, which featured 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter's college debut, was the highest-rated of the four editions of the game, drawing 958,000 on ESPN2.
