Circle City Classic

[LT93bunny]

Grapevine has Fayetteville State vs Virginia Union!! Word is Fayetteville would rather play in Fayetteville for a home game instead of flying to Indy to play in Lucas Oil!! Wow!!!

[WSSU1996]

Interesting. I get that Fayetteville State wants the home game because it basically equates to a "golden marketing" opportunity for both universities but not a revenue generator. Each team's travel and lodging will be comped, however, unless the local Indianapolis community comes out to support it, it will flop. Most D2 HBCUs are the last ones invited because organizers fear low attendance numbers. Winston played against FAMU when we were attempting to transition to D1, and if memory serves me, there were only about 20k to 25k in attendance for a stadium that held 60k. So, visually it looked empty. Kelly Rowland (Bump Like This) from Destiny's Child performed at halftime and was the Grand Marshall in the parade. Admittedly, there was lots of fanfare surrounding the Classic, and the game was nationally televised. Lucas Oil Stadium was under construction at the time, and that was the last Circle City Classic played in the old dome.

[Uindy18]

As an Indianapolis native, I will throw in my two cents. The Circle City Classic used to be a really good event with the Black Expo, one of the bigger events held downtown in the early 2000s. However, due to a bevy of reasons from issues with the Black Expo, to Indy focusing more on bigger events like the CFP, and an inability to attract the HBCU FCS powers, the event simply doesn't seem to be able to draw the way it used to be. From what I have heard from people that attended, high school games and second-tier soccer games in Lucas Oil are better attended than this. There have been rumors year after year that the Circle City Classic won't return for the next year.

Honestly, I think it is kinda sad that the event has dropped off the way it has. I love a unique neutral site event in any form for college football, but this one has always had the challenge of a lack of HBCUs anywhere near Indianapolis (pretty much none in Indiana, the closest two are probably Kentucky State and Central State to my knowledge). I know the Circle City Classic has always been an HBCU thing, but a facelift into an "Indiana Football Weekend" would be really cool way to keep the event alive. You can even sprinkle in some high school games played downtown on Friday.

From an Indianapolis perspective, I feel that a weekend of Indiana schools competing at Lucas Oil (and maybe events at the other downtown Indianapolis venues namely Victory Field and Carroll Stadium) would be a great alternative. I would love a slate of FCS (Indiana State vs. Butler/Valpo), FBS (Purdue/Indiana vs. Notre Dame/Ball State), DIII (Trine/Wabash/Depauw/ Rose-Hulman vs. Franklin/Hanover/Anderson/Manchester). I would also love Indianapolis to move a home game down there and take on a Grand Valley State or Tiffin. The Indiana NAIA schools (Taylor, Indiana Wesleyan, Marian, Saint Francis) could bring in some games as well. It could look like the table below:

Friday 7 pm	HS Game 1 (Cathedral vs. Warren Central)	HS Game 2 (New Palestine vs. Brownsburg)	HS Game 3 (Tech vs. Ben Davis)
Saturday 11 am	Valparaiso vs. Non-Conference NCAA DI FCS 1(ex. Eastern Kentucky)	Trine vs. Hanover	Taylor vs. Non-Conference NAIA 1 (ex. Campbellsville)
Saturday 4 pm	Indiana State vs. Butler	Saint Francis vs. Non-Conference NAIA 3 (ex. Kentucky Christian)	Indiana Wesleyan vs. Non-Conference NAIA 3 (ex. Georgetown)
Saturday 8 pm	Purdue vs. Notre Dame	Marian vs.Non-Conference NAIA 4 (ex. The Cumberlands)	DePauw vs. Rose-Hulman
Sunday Noon	Indianapolis vs. Non-Conference NCAA Division II 1 (ex. Tiffin)	Wabash vs. Franklin	Anderson vs. Non-Conference NCAA DIII 1 (ex. Chicago)
Sunday 5 pm	Indiana vs. Ball State	Manchester vs. Non-Conference NCAA DIII 2 (ex. Centre)	Open if venue shift needed for NFL/USL/MILB Schedule

[ctrabs74]

As an Indianapolis native, I will throw in my two cents. The Circle City Classic used to be a really good event with the Black Expo, one of the bigger events held downtown in the early 2000s. However, due to a bevy of reasons from issues with the Black Expo, to Indy focusing more on bigger events like the CFP, and an inability to attract the HBCU FCS powers, the event simply doesn't seem to be able to draw the way it used to be. From what I have heard from people that attended, high school games and second-tier soccer games in Lucas Oil are better attended than this. There have been rumors year after year that the Circle City Classic won't return for the next year.

Honestly, I think it is kinda sad that the event has dropped off the way it has. I love a unique neutral site event in any form for college football, but this one has always had the challenge of a lack of HBCUs anywhere near Indianapolis (pretty much none in Indiana, the closest two are probably Kentucky State and Central State to my knowledge). I know the Circle City Classic has always been an HBCU thing, but a facelift into an "Indiana Football Weekend" would be really cool way to keep the event alive. You can even sprinkle in some high school games played downtown on Friday.

From an Indianapolis perspective, I feel that a weekend of Indiana schools competing at Lucas Oil (and maybe events at the other downtown Indianapolis venues namely Victory Field and Carroll Stadium) would be a great alternative. I would love a slate of FCS (Indiana State vs. Butler/Valpo), FBS (Purdue/Indiana vs. Notre Dame/Ball State), DIII (Trine/Wabash/Depauw/ Rose-Hulman vs. Franklin/Hanover/Anderson/Manchester). I would also love Indianapolis to move a home game down there and take on a Grand Valley State or Tiffin. The Indiana NAIA schools (Taylor, Indiana Wesleyan, Marian, Saint Francis) could bring in some games as well.

It certainly couldn't hurt, though I think a lot would have to depend on how the NFL schedule plays out and how the Indiana High School Athletic Association schedules work out. Multi-game football festivals outside of state championships tend to struggle to draw (The LSC tried this at AT&T Stadium a few years ago, and as I recall, it didn't seem to work out too well), so what might sound like a great idea in theory might not work out.

[ctrabs74]

Grapevine has Fayetteville State vs Virginia Union!! Word is Fayetteville would rather play in Fayetteville for a home game instead of flying to Indy to play in Lucas Oil!! Wow!!!

Honestly, I don't blame FSU for balking about flying to Indy for a conference game which could just as easily be played in Charlotte, Greensboro or, for that matter, Washington (though, no sane college football program would wanna play in the Eyesore of Landover).

[Uindy18]

It certainly couldn't hurt, though I think a lot would have to depend on how the NFL schedule plays out and how the Indiana High School Athletic Association schedules work out. Multi-game football festivals outside of state championships tend to struggle to draw (The LSC tried this at AT&T Stadium a few years ago, and as I recall, it didn't seem to work out too well), so what might sound like a great idea in theory might not work out.

Ya, I know that there would be some significant logistical hurdles to consider for this, especially if you played multiple games at the same time. The D1 Purdue, Indiana, and Notre Dame games would get the majority of people down there, and they would be tough to bring in anyway. However, if any city could build the event up in that way, it would be Indianapolis. I am a bit biased, but Indianapolis is one of the best places in the country to host major sporting events. I just think that adding the local interest would be much better for the event instead of 2 schools from halfway across the country playing one sparsely attended game in a cavernous NFL stadium.

[ctrabs74]

Ya, I know that there would be some significant logistical hurdles to consider for this, especially if you played multiple games at the same time. The D1 Purdue, Indiana, and Notre Dame games would get the majority of people down there, and they would be tough to bring in anyway. However, if any city could build the event up in that way, it would be Indianapolis. I am a bit biased, but Indianapolis is one of the best places in the country to host major sporting events. I just think that adding the local interest would be much better for the event instead of 2 schools from halfway across the country playing one sparsely attended game in a cavernous NFL stadium.

Absolutely agree with you about Indy being a great city to host a sporting event. I remember covering the 2016 Women's Final Four and fell in love with Banker's Life Fieldhouse (or whatever they're gonna call it now) - that's a perfect mix of classic meets new school as far as arenas go (it's a heck of a lot better than the American Airlines Center in Dallas). I've always felt Indy was an underrated city compared to most cities (just wait until Nashville gets their new domed stadium for the Titans).

As for the last comment, you can bill any neutral site game with D1 teams as a big draw, but that doesn't always mean you're gonna draw a boatload of fans. AT&T Stadium hosted Stanford and Kansas State in a Week 1 made-for-TV contest (Allstate Kickoff Classic) and drew 28,669. By contrast, the Texas 5A-Division II state high school football championship game held in December (and featuring Dallas South Oak Cliff, who became the first Dallas ISD school to win a state football championship in over half a century) drew 45,769 to AT&T. I don't think it's a coincidence that there's no Week 1 game being played in Arlington this college football season.

Notre Dame would certainly draw at Lucas Oil Stadium because, duh, they're Notre Dame. If Purdue at least remains reasonably competitive in the B1G, the Boilermakers could at least draw a decent crowd to Indy. IU and Ball State, eh, not so much (unless it were, say, IU vs. THE Overrated State University of Columbus, Meatchicken or Meatchicken Light).

[LegalRam]

It looks like the Circle City Classic couldn't find a matchup for this year. So now they are just going to have a battle of the bands and stepshow. https://indianapolisrecorder.com/fat...to-hbcu-bands/

Here is a list of the HBCU games for that week. I wonder if they tried to reach out to any of the other teams once FSU shot the invite down.
http://onnidan2.com/fbsked/weekdisplay.cfm?wkid=5

[WSSU1996]

Wow! That is a real blow for the Classic. However, in hindsight, I think it is the location that is hurting the event. Now don't jump all over me, it is not Indianapolis, the city per se but the geographic location that makes it tough to schedule in today's HBCU football climate. There is so much fanfare with HBCU sports over the last two plus years, especially what has happened in the SWAC in particular, that scheduling FCS schools are tougher and tougher. Team schedules are now complete four or five years in advance. Sadly, the contrast for smaller D2 programs is that there is no real financial incentive to lose a home game from their schedule. The lure of playing in a "Classic" type environment may have lost its luster. Again, the fanbases of our smaller D2 schools generally are not big enough for a large following or organizers to get excited about extending an invitation. It is really getting to be a tough sell, and the Circle City Classic may be treading water if they are not able to make some drastic changes. I really enjoyed the event and was thankful for the experience. However, the business person in me could also see the logistical and financial hurdles an event of this magnitude would face. I really hope they figure it out and the Circle City Classic survives!

[LegalRam]

Wow! That is a real blow for the Classic. However, in hindsight, I think it is the location that is hurting the event. Now don't jump all over me, it is not Indianapolis, the city per se but the geographic location that makes it tough to schedule in today's HBCU football climate. There is so much fanfare with HBCU sports over the last two plus years, especially what has happened in the SWAC in particular, that scheduling FCS schools are tougher and tougher. Team schedules are now complete four or five years in advance. Sadly, the contrast for smaller D2 programs is that there is no real financial incentive to lose a home game from their schedule. The lure of playing in a "Classic" type environment may have lost its luster. Again, the fanbases of our smaller D2 schools generally are not big enough for a large following or organizers to get excited about extending an invitation. It is really getting to be a tough sell, and the Circle City Classic may be treading water if they are not able to make some drastic changes. I really enjoyed the event and was thankful for the experience. However, the business person in me could also see the logistical and financial hurdles an event of this magnitude would face. I really hope they figure it out and the Circle City Classic survives!

I agree 100% with everything you said. These independent classics that aren't tied to an annual matchup (i.e. Bayou Classic, Florida Classic, etc.), or at least have a common team (i.e. ECSU's Down East Classic) are going to continue to die a slow death. As long as ESPN is supporting the MEAC/SWAC Challenge and as long as the NFL/Pro Football HOF is backing the classic in Canton then both should continue on, but the ones backed by independent investors are going to continue to see a hard time.

If a classic organizer doesn't book the matchups years in advance then the classic organizers are really just hoping to convince a team to move a home game. As you pointed out the lure of playing in the "classic" environment has lost it's luster, especially if you're a smaller school. Playing in an NFL stadium probably doesn't feel that great if only a few thousand fans show up, and for the classics that have been in places like Indy or Chicago local citizens are only really showing up for the larger name programs. So unless the classic organizers are paying expenses, plus an additional lumpsum to account for the missed home revenue, then I don't see why a team would agree to move a home game to some NFL stadium hundreds of miles away.