The City of Birmingham, AL, will pay more than $655,944 to host the 76th Magic City Classic (MCC) between Alabama State and Alabama A&M this Saturday. The MCC expects to attract nearly 70,000 fans to the game. For its investment the city expects to receive more than $22-million in economic impact from the game.
The bulk of the Birmingham's investment goes to pay a $200,000 game guarantee to each school. In all, Alabama State and Alabama A&M each make nearly $600,000 from the game.
By contrast, the Florida Classic football game played in Orlando between FAMU and Bethune-Cookman --at last report-- received about $150,000 in financial support from its host community ($75,000 each from the City of Orlando and Orange County). Though the Florida Classic payout for each school is historically larger than the payout of the Magic City Classic, because of sponsorship sales, and higher ticket prices, neither FAMU or Bethune receives a direct payment for playing the game in Orlando from the City of Orlando or Orange County.