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SWAC/ MEAC Challenge comes to ESPN
ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, Inc., and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), two prominent HBCU (Historically Black College/University) leagues, have reached a multi-year agreement to create the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

The ERT owned-and-operated annual college football game will be played the Saturday of Labor Day weekend beginning in 2005, it was announced by Chuck Gerber, executive vice president, ESPN Regional Television, Dennis Thomas, MEAC commissioner and Robert Vowels, SWAC commissioner.

The week of the game will also include ancillary events, highlighted by an annual diversity job fair.

Each year, the game will pit a MEAC team against a SWAC member at a neutral site located within the footprint of one of the conferences. The inaugural matchup, featuring South Carolina State vs. Alabama State, will be played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005 and will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2. Teams and sites for future games will be determined on an annual basis.

In addition to the game, the week of the MEAC/SWAC Challenge will feature a series of related events, beginning on the Thursday before the game. Planned activities for this year's event from September 1 to September 3 include (details and additional activities are currently being finalized):

  • A two-day, ESPN-led job fair (Friday and Saturday) targeting recent graduates and alumni of MEAC and SWAC institutions as well as other diverse candidates.
  • A welcome reception for VIPs at the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham on Thursday
  • A kickoff luncheon (public tickets will be available) on Friday at the Sheraton Birmingham, the official host hotel of the 2005 MEAC/SWAC Challenge
  • A pep rally for fans and a showcase of school bands

ERT will be responsible for the MEAC/SWAC Challenge organization, operation, sponsorship, marketing efforts and more.

"This event will bring national attention to tradition-rich football programs as well as support the important objective of fostering diversity," said Gerber. "We continuously search for ways to expand our event models to fans and the MEAC/SWAC Challenge will provide a great foundation to build upon for future events."

Thomas added, "This will be a unique opportunity for the MEAC and the SWAC to market and gain additional visibility for each conference and our member institutions."

Vowels said, "This is not only great for our schools and conferences, but also for the nation's football fans. We know that the television audience will not only enjoy the excitement of the action, but the pageantry of our schools' games."

© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.