It’s an annual “happening” in Louisiana and since 1974, and only once has it been played outside of New Orleans, and its 2020 future seems to be in limbo.
This week Southern University Athletic Director Roman Banks announced that the Bayou Classic will not be played in New Orleans this year, and possibly will not be played in 2021.
But before that news could sink in there was another statement that challenged Banks’ statement, leaving the fate of the class up in the air for the present.
During a SU System Board of Supervisors meeting on Friday, June 12, Banks stated that the game will be played this year and there are three possible locations.
He said, the Bayou Classic could be played at either A.W. Mumford Stadium on Southern’s campus, Independence Stadium in Shreveport, or at LSU in Tiger Stadium.
Other than LSU Tiger Stadium, all of the venues mentioned are smaller than the average 70,000 crowd that the annual Grambling vs Southern game draws. Tiger Stadium seats 102,321,
Bayou Classic organizers, however, released a statement saying Banks’ comments are “premature.”
“There has been no decision about the Bayou Classic and any such statements about where the Bayou Classic might be played are premature. The Southwestern Athletics Conference Council of Presidents and Chancellors have a late June meeting where matters related to Fall sports will be discussed,” the statement attributed to the Bayou Classic Committee and Management Company says.
The annual game between Southern University and Grambling State has been played in New Orleans since 1974.
If the game is played outside of New Orleans it will be the first time since 2005, when the Classic was played in Houston.
