More Than Three Dozen Sponsors Contributing to BCFHOF Classic

More than three dozen sponsors have joined with the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Black College Football Hall of Fame to make the 2021 Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic memorable for the universities involved and for spectators and participants attending its many events.

On Sunday, Grambling State and Tennessee State will meet on the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium field in a “Battle of the Tigers.” The game, scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. and broadcast on NFL Network, will mark the coaching debut of Ohio State standout Eddie George and culminates a full Labor Day Weekend of Classic-related events made possible thanks to the generosity of these sponsors.

“A weekend full of events of this magnitude would not be possible without these special partners,” said Pat Lindesmith, Chief Partnership Officer & Senior Vice President of Gold Jacket Relations at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “The number of sponsors assisting this year is more than double the number from the inaugural Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic in 2019. It’s exciting to see the community rally behind an event that promotes diversity and inclusiveness, and it’s even more exciting to see the growth in the Classic’s second year. We’re proud to work with these sponsors and eager to see how much bigger this entire event can become in future years.”

The list of sponsors includes several that also assist the Pro Football Hall of Fame during Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls – names like Johnson Controls, the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Visit Canton, SARTA and Aultman.

JCI is providing a $25,000 scholarship to each university as part of its support of the overall event. The Aultman Foundation has purchased 2,000 game tickets that will be distributed to school districts across Stark and neighboring counties so students can attend the game.

Other donations are making it possible for Saturday afternoon’s concert at Centennial Plaza, featuring Grammy Award-nominated performer Marvin Sapp, to be held at no cost to spectators. There also is no cost for families to attend the Classic Fun Fest at Centennial Plaza on Saturday.

The list of sponsors also includes:

The Canton Repository, The Schroer Group, Sam’s Club, the Ohio Lottery, First Commonwealth Bank, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital, McDonald’s, PNC Bank, ABCD, ASW Global, Calhoun Funeral Home, Dominion Energy, Endeavor Business Media, Evoqua Water Technologies, CareSource, the Greater Stark County Urban League, Green Lines Transportation, Kempthorn Motors, MAGNET, Nissan, Oswald, V-One Vodka, the Schauer Group, Sport Graphics, Stark State College, Steve & Sondra Perry, Strengthening Stark, Summa Health, Coach USA, the U.S. Air Force, Jan-Pro, ZayMat Distributors and Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty Co., L.P.A.

Among the weekend’s events are a College Fair, a Social Justice Discussion, a Minority Business Reception, a golf outing at historic Clearview Golf Course and a pregame party on the Hall’s campus. For more details, or to purchase tickets to the Grambling State vs. Tennessee State game, go to ProFootballHOF.com/BCFHOFClassic21/