The 38th Southern Heritage Classic is Sept. 10-11, 2027, at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. 2026 game tickets were $23 to $53; tailgate, parade, bands.
Last checked Oct. 18, 2026. Facts come from the Southern Heritage Classic’s own site: its events page, scores and attendance record, history and 2026 tailgating and RV sheet. This page is updated each year at the same address.
The 38th Southern Heritage Classic is Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10-11, 2027, in Memphis. The HBCU football game, played every year at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium since 1990, is the center of a weekend that also brings a college fair, a coaches luncheon, the Classic Tailgate on Tiger Lane, a parade through Orange Mound and a high school battle of the bands. The 2027 schedule, matchup and ticket prices have not been posted yet; the 2026 weekend is below as a guide. The organizer, SMC Entertainment, is at 901-398-6655.
Know before you go
- 2027 dates: Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10-11
- Game: Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, 335 Glenn Rogers Sr. St. (Liberty Park)
- Tickets: Ticketmaster; 2026 seats were $53, $38 and $23 plus service charges, all reserved
- Tailgating: Tiger Lane and the stadium lots, sold as packages with game tickets
- Organizer: Southern Heritage Classic, 901-398-6655
Last year: the 2026 weekend
The 37th Classic was Friday and Saturday, Sept. 11-12, 2026. From the events page:
| When | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Classic College & Career Fair | Memphis Sports & Events Center, 995 Early Maxwell Blvd., Liberty Park | Free |
| Friday, noon | Classic Coaches Luncheon | Renasant Convention Center | Invitation only |
| Saturday, 8 a.m. | Classic Tailgate | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium lots and Tiger Lane | Packages on Ticketmaster |
| Saturday, 8 a.m. | Penny Hardaway Memphis District Golf Classic | Tunica National Golf & Tennis, Tunica, Mississippi | $800 a four-player team |
| Saturday, 9 a.m. | Classic Parade | Park Avenue from Haynes to Airways | Free to watch |
| Saturday, 10 a.m. | Classic Battle of the Bands | Whitehaven High School stadium | $12 in advance, $15 at the gate |
| Saturday, 11 a.m. | Classic Fashion Show & Brunch | The Great Hall, 1900 S. Germantown Road | $100 |
| Saturday, 6 p.m. | Football game, Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Alcorn State | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium | $23 to $53 |
The night ends with the halftime show by UAPB’s Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South and Alcorn State’s Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite, then the “5th Quarter,” a band battle after the final whistle. Alcorn State won the 2026 game 53-51 in double overtime before 21,881 fans.
Tickets
Game tickets are sold on Ticketmaster, and all seats are reserved. For 2026 they were $53, $38 and $23 plus service charges. The Battle of the Bands sells its own tickets: $12 in advance and $15 on the day in 2026. The college fair is free, and the parade is free to watch along Park Avenue.
Tailgating, parking and RVs
The tailgate is one of the biggest parts of the weekend. In 2026 the spaces went on sale Friday, April 24, at 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster, two spaces per customer at most, with no refunds, according to the tailgating sheet. Every package includes game tickets, and team side is first come, first served.
| Lot | Space | 2026 price | Game tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger Lane, Lots A, B, D and E | 20 by 40 feet paved plus grass, power | $568 | 16 |
| Tiger Lane, Lots C and F | 20 by 20 feet paved plus grass, power | $330 | 10 |
| Lot 14, north | 20 by 40 feet paved | $198 | 6 |
| Lot 13, south (Coliseum area) | 20 by 40 feet paved | $198 | 6 |
| RV Lot 15, with power | 18 by 40 feet paved plus grass | $334 | 8 |
| RV Lot 15, no power | 20 by 40 feet paved | $284 | 8 |
How to get in. The stadium grounds sit between Southern Avenue, East Parkway, Hollywood Street (now Glenn Rogers Sr. Street) and Central Avenue. Tiger Lane tailgaters enter at Access 8 or 9 on East Parkway; Lots 14 and 15 at Access 7, Central Avenue and Early Maxwell; Lot 13 at Access 11, Southern Avenue and Early Maxwell. Access 4 on Glenn Rogers Sr. Street is for credentialed vehicles only. In 2026, load-in began Thursday, Sept. 10, and tailgating ran Sept. 10-12.
The rivalry and the crowd
The Classic began in 1990 as a neutral-site game in Memphis between Jackson State and Tennessee State, halfway between their campuses, and those two played most years through 2022. The record book shows a peak crowd of 61,171 in 1997. Recent games have drawn about 21,000 to 33,000. The game was postponed to Thanksgiving in 2001, called off for lightning in 2018 and canceled in 2020 for COVID-19. Classic Saturday is usually the second Saturday in September; the 2025 game was Sept. 27.
Frequently asked questions
When is the 2027 Southern Heritage Classic? The 38th Southern Heritage Classic is Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10-11, 2027, in Memphis, the organizer says. The game-day schedule and kickoff time have not been posted yet.
Who played in the 2026 Southern Heritage Classic? Alcorn State beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 53-51 in double overtime on Sept. 12, 2026, at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, before a crowd of 21,881.
How much are Southern Heritage Classic tickets? For the 2026 game, reserved seats were $53, $38 and $23 plus service charges on Ticketmaster. Prices for 2027 have not been announced.
Where do you tailgate for the Southern Heritage Classic? On Tiger Lane and the lots around Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Liberty Park. In 2026 tailgate packages cost $198 to $568, each with game tickets, and went on sale in April on Ticketmaster.
What this means for you
- Want a Tiger Lane spot? Watch for the on-sale date in spring; in 2026 it was April 24.
- Going to the parade only? It is free along Park Avenue between Haynes and Airways.
- Plan for game-day traffic around East Parkway, Southern Avenue and Central Avenue all Saturday.
Related: Friday night football, things to do in Memphis and getting around Memphis.
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