Bayou Classic Tickets

About the Bayou Classic

In 2025, Celebrating its 52nd year, the Bayou Classic continues to uphold its legacy as a symbol of excellence and camaraderie within the HBCU community. Year after year, fans gather in New Orleans over Thanksgiving weekend to witness the thrilling football matchup between Southern University and Grambling State University, accompanied by the electrifying Battle of the Bands & Greek Show and the highly anticipated halftime show featuring two of the greatest marching bands in the nation. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.mybayouclassic.com. And follow Bayou Classic on Facebook at @MyBayouClassic and on Instagram at @bayouclassic74.

History of the Bayou Classic

Southern University first played Grambling State in football in 1930, when the latter was known as the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute. It was not until 1958 that Grambling joined the Jaguars in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and the two teams started to play on a yearly basis. The prominence of both teams greatly increased in the 1960s and early '70s, with the rise of coach Eddie Robinson's Tiger teams, featuring such Grambling legends as Charlie Joiner, Doug Williams and Buck Buchanan, and Southern's success featuring such stars as Harold Carmichael and Mel Blount. The Bayou Classic was first held at Tulane Stadium in 1974, before moving to the brand-new Louisiana Superdome the following year. The dome has held the Bayou Classic every year since, except for 2005 when it was moved to Houston after Hurricane Katrina, and 2021, when a rescheduled Bayou Classic conflicted with renovations to the stadium.

No Bayou Classic weekend is complete without the legendary Battle of the Bands, between Grambling's World Famed Tiger Marching Band, and Southern's Human Jukebox. The Friday night spectacular features hundreds of marchers on each side performing alongside Grambling's Orchesis dance line and the Fabulous Dancing Dolls of Southern. In 2015, the Waterford crystal trophy which had been awarded to the Bayou Classic winner since the late '80s was retired and donated to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture by both universities. Due to the postponement of the 2020 NCAA Division I FCS season, the first-ever springtime Bayou Classic game was scheduled for April 17, 2021, in Shreveport.