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57-685: The game was held at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama , from 1999 through 2012, and moved to NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas , for the 2013 through 2017 playings. Since 2018, the game has been played at a campus site, hosted by the participant with the higher ranking, with the exception of the 2021 spring game when the championship moved to its third neutral location at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi due to

114-615: A World Cup qualification match against Guatemala at the stadium on March 30, 2005. When the City of Birmingham changed back to an artificial turf field in 2006, the United States Soccer Federation announced that it would no longer be scheduling men's national team games for Legion Field. Legion Field has also been used as a concert venue, hosting famous artists of many different genres, including U2 , Ruben Studdard , Pink Floyd , and The Rolling Stones . In 1979 and 1980,

171-418: A 21,000-seat stadium began in 1926 at the cost of $ 439,000. It was completed in 1927 and named Legion Field as a war memorial in honor of the recently-established American Legion . In the stadium's first event, 16,800 fans watched Howard College (now known as Samford University ) shut out Birmingham–Southern College 9–0 on November 19, 1927. Over the years, the stadium grew. The expansions didn't follow

228-481: A 32–15 advantage over Auburn in games played at Legion Field. Alabama and Auburn used Legion Field as an alternate home stadium for much of the 20th century. At its height, Legion Field seated over 20,000 more people than Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium and Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, making it a natural choice for games likely to attract large crowds. Between its use for the Iron Bowl and as an alternate home stadium for

285-403: A capacity crowd of 46,000. With political support from Ole Miss and Mississippi State and leadership from Ole Miss Athletics Director Warner Alford, Mississippi Memorial Stadium was enlarged to 62,500 in 1981 and on September 26, 1981 Ole Miss and Arkansas again dedicated the facility before 63,522. As referenced, for many years Mississippi Memorial Stadium served as an alternate home stadium for

342-613: A new stadium on the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex grounds in July 2019. UAB football moved into the new 47,000-seat Protective Stadium , in 2021. Legion Field served as the home field of the UAB Blazers , members of Conference USA , from 1991 to 2020. The Blazers temporarily left Legion Field without a primary tenant during the school's two-year hiatus from football. The Blazers returned to Legion Field for

399-524: A venue for American football , but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in honor of the American Legion , a U.S. organization of military veterans . The stadium served as the primary venue for Alabama Crimson Tide home games until the late 1990s and was for many years the site of the annual Iron Bowl rivalry game against Auburn . The UAB football team played at Legion Field from their inception in 1991 through

456-484: Is an outdoor football stadium in Jackson, Mississippi , United States. Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium has been the home stadium of the Jackson State Tigers football team since 1970. Originally known as War Veterans Memorial Stadium, it was later known as Hinds County War Memorial Stadium. It was redesigned and enlarged in 1960 and Ole Miss vs. Arkansas dedicated Mississippi Memorial Stadium in 1961 before

513-467: The 1996 Summer Olympics —the opening match between the United States and Argentina drew 83,810 spectators, the stadium's all-time record for any event. All of the later-round soccer games moved to Athens, Georgia , after preliminary games had been played in various other cities. Legion Field has also hosted exhibition games by the U.S. men's and women's national soccer teams . The men's team played

570-653: The 2023 season , Protective Stadium served as the home stadium for the Birmingham Stallions and New Orleans Breakers . Legion Field has hosted various high school football games throughout its history. From 1996 until 2008, Legion Field was used by the Alabama High School Athletic Association for the Super Six high school football championships. Legion Field has been used as a site for major soccer events, including preliminary matches in

627-963: The Birmingham Americans (1974) and Birmingham Vulcans (1975) of the World Football League (1974–1975), the Alabama Vulcans of the American Football Association (1979), the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (1983–1985), and the Birmingham Fire of the World League of American Football (later NFL Europe ) in 1991–92. In 1995 , it was the home field of the Birmingham Barracudas for their single season of play as part of

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684-835: The Buffalo Bills 33–10, and on August 27, 1988, when the Washington Redskins defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–17. In 1968, the Boston Patriots of the American Football League played one "home" game against the New York Jets at Legion Field. The Jets, featuring former Alabama quarterback Joe Namath , won the game 47–31. The inaugural 2022 season of the USFL was played at Protective Stadium and Legion Field. For

741-952: The COVID-19 pandemic . Following the 1998 season, the SWAC announced that the league would be split into two divisions with the divisional winners meeting in a championship game. At the time of the announcement, a site for the game had not been selected but the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans , the Astrodome in Houston , the Georgia Dome in Atlanta , Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson , Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile and Legion Field in Birmingham were each mentioned as potential locations for

798-472: The Kilgore College Rangers of Kilgore, Texas. A crowd of 18,000 saw Holmes fall to the visiting Rangers 32–12. The first Division I-A game took place on November 22, 1952, when Southern Mississippi defeated Louisville 55–26. Ole Miss first played their first game there on September 19, 1953, defeating Chattanooga 39–6, and on Halloween day of that same year, Mississippi State played there for

855-487: The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The following May, SWAC officials announced the league offices would move from New Orleans to Birmingham and that the championship game would be played at Legion Field. Birmingham was selected over New Orleans, Houston, Baton Rouge and Memphis as the city guaranteed both free office space to house the league headquarters and free access to Legion Field to host

912-499: The NCAA imposing an athletics Death Penalty . ‡ The 2020 season spanned the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021, with the championship game played on May 1, 2021. Updated for December 2023; 24 editions played, 50 total appearances. Championship years appear in bold type. † Texas Southern vacated its 2010 championship game victory. Prior to splitting into divisions and using a postseason championship game to decide its overall champion,

969-617: The University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University , and occasionally the University of Southern Mississippi . From 1973 to 1990 the Egg Bowl was played there and from 1992 to 2013 it hosted the Mississippi High School Activities Association state championship football games. In addition to college and high school games it has hosted several National Football League (NFL) preseason games. The Stadium

1026-527: The 1970s due to the larger capacity and the difficulty in traveling to Auburn for most of the 20th century. Auburn played all home games against Tennessee at Legion Field until 1978, except in 1974, when the game was played in Auburn. Auburn also played all home games against Georgia Tech at Legion Field until 1970. Auburn played its last home game at Legion Field in 1991, but took part in the Birmingham Bowl at

1083-498: The 2020 season. It has also hosted teams from various professional football leagues. Since the removal of its east-side upper deck in 2005, Legion Field has a seating capacity of approximately 71,594. At its peak, it seated 83,091 for football and had the name "Football Capital of the South" emblazoned from the facade on the upper deck. Legion Field is colloquially called "The Old Gray Lady" and "The Gray Lady on Graymont". Construction of

1140-564: The 20th century—even though Tuscaloosa is only 45 minutes west of Birmingham. The Crimson Tide hosted Tennessee in odd-numbered years in Birmingham until 1998, and hosted LSU in even-numbered years from 1964 through 1986, except for 1980. Well into the 1990s, Alabama usually played anywhere from three to four home games a year at Legion Field. Alabama also played its entire 1987 home schedule at Legion Field due to major renovations at Bryant–Denny Stadium. The stadium's association with Alabama football

1197-580: The Celebration Bowl from 2018 onward. In June 2018, the league reversed course, announcing that a championship game would be played in Birmingham. In November 2018, the league further advised that the championship game would be played at the “SWAC institution with the highest ranking.” The December 2018 game was held at Jack Spinks Stadium in Lorman, Mississippi , home field of the Alcorn State Braves ;

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1254-544: The Crimson Tide and Tigers, Legion Field played host to many of the most important football games in Alabama's history. Well into the 1980s, Alabama played most of its important games, as well as the Iron Bowl, at Legion Field—to the point that most of Alabama's "home" football history from the 1920s to the 1980s took place in Birmingham. In addition to the larger capacity, Birmingham was more accessible than Tuscaloosa for much of

1311-568: The December 2019 game returned to the same venue. The championship game for the 2020 season, held in the spring of 2021, was moved to a neutral site, Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium . Subsequent games have been held at campus sites. When the game was initially proposed, the teams playing in the championship game was to include those with the best record against seven conference opponents from each division. However in August 1999 league officials changed

1368-614: The Heritage Bowl by the SWAC champion. With the SWAC left unable to compete, the Heritage Bowl folded in February 2000. In July 2010, commissioner Duer Sharp announced the SWAC was interested in participating in the Legacy Bowl against the MEAC to determine the annual black college football national championship . Although a decision regarding the contest was postponed to 2011, SWAC participation in

1425-607: The SEC in 2012). The Golden Eagles played their final home game there in 1988, a 38–21 win over Mississippi State. The stadium was also host to the annual Capital City Classic between Jackson State and Alcorn State University , both of the Southwestern Athletic Conference , from 1993 to 2010. Starting in 2011 the game began to alternate between Veterans Memorial Stadium and Alcorn State's home field, Jack Spinks Stadium , in Lorman when The Braves exercised their right as

1482-505: The SWAC determined its champions by winning-percentage against conference opponents in regular season play. In 1933 Langston appeared to win the title outright with a 4-0 conference record after the regular season, while Wiley finished 4-1, and Prairie View A&M finished 3-1. Langston was invited to the Prairie View Bowl, which was won by Prairie View. The Panthers subsequently declared themselves SWAC champions even though their claim

1539-530: The Southwestern Athletic Conference used the stadium for their conference championship from 1999 to 2012, but moved to Houston's NRG Stadium in 2013. The Southeastern Conference played their first two conference title games here in 1992 and 1993. This stadium has also hosted four different bowl games in its history: Legion Field has served as the home stadium for various professional football teams in Birmingham. It served as home field for

1596-500: The Tigers' basketball team, host concerts, and host special events. In addition to seating 50,000 for football, it would hold 17,000 for basketball and 21,000 for concerts and include 75 sky boxes for rental. The JSU Sports Hall of Fame would have been located on the first floor. ... the ultimate goal is that we have our own stadium close to campus just because we think that would be more beneficial to JSU. If JSU had relinquished control of

1653-555: The annual Egg Bowl contests between Ole Miss and Mississippi State were held there from 1973 through the 1990 contest, after which the game returned to the two schools' respective campuses. Shortly after the 1980 expansion both Ole Miss and Mississippi State decided to enhance their on-campus facilities to develop the same home-field advantage of their fellow Southeastern Conference members, and gradually stopped playing games in Jackson altogether. The last game played there by an SEC school

1710-400: The current seating to the official 60,492 seats. In 1960 the state legislature took over control of the stadium and it remained under their supervision until 2011 when "operational, administrative and managing powers and duties" were transferred to Jackson State University. The stadium hosted its first football game on December 9, 1950, a contest between Holmes Junior College Bulldogs and

1767-467: The designer's initial intent on the stadium becoming a monumental horseshoe-shaped amphitheater. Capacity was increased to 25,000 in 1934 and to 45,000 in 1948, and the bowl was enclosed. In 1961, a 9,000 seat upper deck was added to the east side of the stadium, increasing capacity to 54,600. In 1965, a new press box was built in the stadium and capacity was further increased to 68,821. The first nationally televised night college football game at Legion Field

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1824-533: The divisions have only ever been realigned once. In 2021, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman joined the SWAC and were placed into the Eastern Division, and Alcorn State was moved to the Western Division to maintain an equal number of teams in both divisions. Eastern Division Western Division † Texas Southern vacated its 2010 Championship victory, along with all its 2006 to 2010 wins, to avoid

1881-492: The ensuing years, Alabama decreased the number of games scheduled in Birmingham. The last home game for Alabama at Legion Field was against the University of South Florida on August 30, 2003. Though Alabama had a couple of games scheduled at Legion Field in 2005 and 2008, the stadium's poor state of repair (see above) led Alabama to end its contract with the city of Birmingham in 2004 and move all home games to Tuscaloosa. Auburn also used Legion Field for some home games well into

1938-486: The event would potentially end the annual championship game in Birmingham. Ultimately, the SWAC championship game was retained, and in May 2013, SWAC officials announced a move from Legion Field to Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas starting with the December 2013 playing. In June 2017, the SWAC announced that it would end its football championship game following that season's contest, and would send its regular season champion to

1995-534: The event. Additionally, expansion of the league to twelve teams was also under consideration with Tennessee State , Florida A&M , Tuskegee and Morris Brown mentioned as possible additions. In February 1999, a championship game was officially approved by the SWAC Council of Presidents. Officials also stated the winner of the championship game would advance to play in the Heritage Bowl against an opponent from

2052-572: The facility played host to the Drum Corps International World Championships. If Protective Stadium had not been completed in time for the 2022 World Games , that event's opening and closing ceremonies would have been held at Legion Field. It remains in use at least through the World Games, as it served as the venue for flag football . Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium

2109-482: The few home games it still scheduled for Birmingham . The city removed the upper deck in 2005 since the capacity was greater than the need for its tenants. In 2015, renovations took place including general improvements and overall renovations including a new and larger video scoreboard along with a new and improved sound system. The stadium's future beyond the 2020 college football season is uncertain. The Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center Authority started construction of

2166-425: The field went back to an artificial surface with infilled FieldTurf . The field has a conventional north–south alignment at an approximate elevation of 570 feet (170 m) above sea level . In 2004 , a structural evaluation determined that the 9,000 seat upper deck would need major remediation to meet modern building codes. With little prospect of adequate repairs on the way, the University of Alabama withdrew

2223-479: The first time in two years on September 2, 2017, setting a new attendance record in a 38–7 victory over Alabama A&M . Legion Field was well known for hosting the regular season-ending rivalry between Alabama and Auburn each year from 1948 to 1988. Because of Birmingham's major industry of iron and steel manufacturing, the game became known as the " Iron Bowl ." From the series' resumption in 1948 to 1987, each team rotated claiming home-field rights, with Alabama as

2280-401: The first time, suffering a 27–20 loss to Texas Tech . From the 1950s through the 1990s, Ole Miss (University of Mississippi), Mississippi State, and Southern Miss regularly played selected "home" games there, including "SEC doubleheader Saturdays" in which one school would host a conference opponent in the morning or afternoon and the other would host a conference opponent at night. Notably,

2337-464: The game. The inaugural game was played on December 11, with Southern defeating Jackson State 31–30 before 47,621 fans at Legion Field. The following week, Southern lost to Hampton in the Heritage Bowl; however, the meeting would be the only one for the SWAC champion following the championship game. In January 2000 the NCAA ruled schools cannot compete in two postseason games, effectively ending participation in

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2394-458: The home to host the game on their campus. In a document published on the Alcorn State website University President M. Christopher Brown II and interim athletic director Dwayne White informally dubbed the game the "Soul Bowl". From 2000 to 2004 Veterans Memorial was home of the renewed Backyard Brawl between Millsaps College and Mississippi College. On September 2, 2000, after a 40-year hiatus,

2451-405: The large crowds that attended the game even in the 1950s. Additionally, Birmingham was much more accessible to the rest of the state well into the 1970s. By the 1980s, Jordan-Hare Stadium had expanded to seat over 80,000 people. Combined with Legion Field's decades-long association with Alabama football (see below), this led Auburn fans to lobby for making the Iron Bowl a home-and-home series, or at

2508-648: The nominal home team in even-numbered years and Auburn as the nominal home team in odd-numbered years. Tickets were split equally between the two athletic departments to sell, similar to other rivalries like the Red River Shootout between Oklahoma and Texas or the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party between Georgia and Florida. For many years, the Iron Bowl was played in Birmingham more or less out of necessity. Neither Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium nor Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium were nearly large enough to accommodate

2565-451: The postseason game is incorporated into the regular season conference standings. Prairie View vacated its 1941 championship. No championship was awarded in 1943 due to World War II. Grambling State vacated its 1975 championship due to a violation of SWAC rules for scheduling opponents. Legion Field Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama , primarily designed to be used as

2622-429: The rule. For the inaugural contest, participation in the championship game was based on the record against the four divisional opponents only, not all conference teams. This format was dropped by the SWAC following the 1999 championship game in favor of the original proposal based on all league games, not only the divisional opponents. Since the SWAC split into divisions and began conducting a conference championship game,

2679-712: The same stadium in 2015 as a postseason bowl game. Legion Field has hosted a number of other college football games. The annual Magic City Classic between Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University has been played here since 1946. The Steel City Classic featuring Miles College and Stillman College is also played at Legion Field. The MEAC / SWAC Challenge was played at Legion Field from 2005 to 2007, but moved to Orlando in 2008. Birmingham–Southern College played against Mississippi College's junior varsity team in Legion Field on September 6, 2007, in their first football game since 1939. In terms of postseason play,

2736-682: The short-lived expansion of the Canadian Football League into the United States. In 2001 , it was the home field for the single season of the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the XFL . In 2019 , it was the home field for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football . There have also been at least two NFL preseason games here, on August 8, 1970, when the New York Jets defeated

2793-652: The stadium's atmosphere won the championship in the College Football Campus Tour Best FCS Stadium Invitational, beating out the Kibbie Dome in Idaho in the title round with 58% of nearly 12,000 votes. The facility faced an uncertain future as Jackson State University explored and proposed building an on-campus venue. In the spring of 2013 Jackson State unveiled a proposal for a 50,000 seat, $ 200 million domed stadium that would also house

2850-412: The stadium, the University of Mississippi Medical Center expressed interest in using the property to build a medical research and treatment "city" in the area. If Jackson State had built a stadium either on or close to its campus UMMC would have regained ownership of the old facility and it would have been razed. We don't have a football team, so we would have no use for the stadium. So we would develop

2907-495: The two schools resumed their football series and in front of a reported crowd of 10,200 spectators. Millsaps defeated Mississippi College 20–19. From 1992 to 2013 the Mississippi High School Activities Association state championship football games were played at the stadium, but on July 20, 2014 MHSAA executive director Don Hinton announced that those games would begin rotating between Davis Wade Stadium at Mississippi State and Vaught–Hemingway Stadium at Ole Miss. In 2024,

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2964-633: The very least allow Auburn to move its home games to Jordan-Hare. At the time, Alabama was Auburn's only major rival to have never played a game on the Plains. Ultimately, in 1989 , Auburn moved its home games in the series to Jordan-Hare. Thus, tickets for games held at Legion Field were no longer split equally. Auburn did host an Iron Bowl home game at Legion Field in 1991, but since then all Iron Bowls have been played at Auburn in odd-numbered years. In 2000 , Alabama followed suit and decided to no longer play its home games against Auburn at Legion Field. Alabama holds

3021-545: Was a blowout win by Ole Miss over Division I-AA VMI in 1996; the Rebels' last conference game at Jackson was a 1993 win over Arkansas . Mississippi State's last home game at Jackson was a 34–22 victory over LSU in 1990 and their last game of any sort there was the 1990 Egg Bowl where they lost to the Rebels 21–9 playing as the visiting team. Southern Miss made regular appearances as well, playing both UM and MSU as well as games against such schools as Texas A&M (which joined

3078-414: Was based on a postseason game. The SWAC seems to acknowledge both schools' claims to the title in the conference's football media guide, although some other sources including Michael Hurd's Black College Football, 1892–1992: One Hundred Years of History, Education, and Pride (1993) also list Wiley as an additional co-champion, apparently since all three schools had 4-1 records against conference opponents if

3135-476: Was between Ole Miss and Alabama on October 4, 1969 . In 1970, the natural grass turf was replaced with Poly-Turf , which was in turn replaced by AstroTurf in 1975. Seating capacity was increased to 75,808 in 1977 and further increased to 83,091 in 1991. The turf was changed back to a natural Bermuda grass surface in 1995 in order to host soccer events for the Summer Olympics in Atlanta . In 2006,

3192-582: Was renamed Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in 1995. For many years, the stadium was the largest in the state until the University of Mississippi expanded its stadium in 2016. Construction on the facility began in early 1949 and it opened in 1950 with a seating capacity of 21,000. By 1953 temporary seating had brought the capacity up to 25,000 and in 1961 the stadium was expanded to hold 46,000. Then in 1981 it underwent an expansion that brought total capacity to 62,512, although subsequent renovations dropped

3249-514: Was so strong that from the 1980s onward, Auburn lobbied to have its home games in the Iron Bowl played in Auburn. Until 1999, Alabama played at least three games at Legion Field every season. In 1998, Alabama double-decked the east stands at Bryant-Denny, bringing its capacity to a few hundred more seats than that of Legion Field. Due to the disrepair of Legion Field and the added capacity in Tuscaloosa, Alabama moved major conference games on campus. In

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