When the Orange Blossom Classic roared back to life last year after a 43-year hiatus, organizers figured Miami Gardens would be the perfect home for the annual football game between Historically Black Colleges and Universities. After Year 1 went so well, the Orange Blossom Classic is going even bigger in Year 2.
Once again, the FAMU Rattlers and Jackson State Tigers will battle Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, but, by sheer coincidence, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats will be in town, too, to play the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday.
“We plan for it to be one big HBCU weekend,” Orange Blossom Classic executive director Kendra Bulluck-Major said.
In Year 1 of its revival, the Orange Blossom Classic (OBC) generated nearly $12 million for Miami-Dade County, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau found in an economic impact analysis.
In Year 2, expectations are for the game to do even more for South Florida, partially because the COVID-19 pandemic is less a concern than it was a year. For Year 2, the OBC is partnering with Visit Lauderdale, too, to expand further into Broward County because of how many more HBCU fans it expects to be in town this weekend.
Even though events are spread even further across the region this year, the OBC is still maintaining a focus on Miami Gardens, the largest majority-Black city in Florida.
About $6 million of the almost $12 million generated for Miami-Dade County last year benefited local, minority-owned business, Bulluck-Major said, and the same programs designed to benefit those businesses are still in place for 2022.