Sports

Football money, attention finally coming to some HBCUs, but resource gap keeps growing

WUNC | By Leoneda Inge

Published September 2, 2022 at 1:03 PM EDT

Florida A&M defensive back Eric Smith plays against UNC on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.

If you follow college football in the South, you may notice game days are looking a little more diverse. There is a new emphasis on historically Black college football, as “big time” schools like UNC-Chapel Hill schedule games against schools like Florida A&M University.

That game — between the Tar Heels and the Rattlers last week — was promoted as an “HBCU Celebration" by UNC. There were T-shirts printed and sold bearing the title, date and football helmets facing off in Blue-and-White and Orange-and-Green.

For many, it's a welcome change.

“I’ve been married to a Rattler 59 years” said Tommy Mitchell, a Rattler fan and former national alumni association president. “All of my children went to FAMU. Five of my grandchildren went to FAMU. So I don’t only bleed Orange-and-Green; I breed Orange-and-Green."

Florida A&M's Marching 100 performs at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill on Aug. 27, 2022.

Mitchell said, before the game, that he wasn’t all that concerned about losing.

“What we’re concerned about is always be representative,” he said. “Obviously, if we don’t have the budget that a team has we can’t always expect to really compete.”

There are many reasons last Saturday’s contest was not your average football game. The last time the Tar Heels played a historically Black school was North Carolina A&T State University in 2015. The Aggies lost 53-14. HBCUs are, across the board, smaller in size and have fewer resources than schools in the “Power 5” conferences, which includes the ACC, which UNC belongs to. FAMU plays in the SWAC — a league made up of exclusively Division I HBCUs.

So, what turns out to be a “practice game” for these large predominately white powerhouse programs, turns into a “money game” for the HBCUs.

According to the contract, UNC paid FAMU $450,000 to play a game at Kenan Memorial Stadium. For an HBCU, that sort of payday can help fund a large chunk of an athletic department's yearly budget.

Raja Rahim is an assistant professor of African American History at Appalachian State University. Her focus is “The Black Experience in U.S. History through Sports.”

“We’re starting to have those conversations,” Rahim said. “We’re talking about Black Lives Matter, but then that larger umbrella comes in these notions of this new conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion and how do we continue to level the playing field.”

Rahim questions if the games are worth it. In the coming weeks, just in the ACC, Miami plays Bethune-Cookman, and Duke University hosts NC A&T. But schools in Power 5 leagues, like the ACC, make much of their money through bountiful TV contracts. In the 2020-21 fiscal year, the ACC paid out each school $36.1 million from TV revenue.

“So, if I am thinking about the millions of dollars that a predominately white institution is making off of these money games, I don’t think a $450,000 pay-out is fair,” says Rahim.

Florida A&M football coach Willie Simmons coaches against UNC on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.

Florida A&M football fans cheer on the Rattlers against UNC at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill on Aug. 27, 2022.

Others, closer to the programs themselves, think differently.

“A great opportunity. Nationally televised game and we’ve told our guys, this isn’t a quote, un-quote ‘money game,’ this is a 'get money game,'” said FAMU football coach Willie Simmons, before the 56-24 loss to Carolina.

It was a game that could have been canceled after more than 20 FAMU players were deemed ineligible.

After the game, Simmons said: “People may have given us a pass on this one because of the stuff we went through over the last 48 hours and the fact that we were playing a Power 5 school, but we won’t get any more grace with the rest of them. We will be expected to be on the other side of the win column from here on out.”

On the other sideline, UNC football coach Mack Brown also touted the game as a success.

“Overall, I thought it was a great opening ballgame,” he said. “Give (FAMU) credit, they played hard, they played well. It ends up only three players out of their two-deep didn’t play. So, there’s a lot of talk about all the players that weren’t there. Everybody that played was there.”

Todd Cody of Raleigh is a Carolina graduate and was glad to make the game. He said he made new friends, got to see FAMU's renowned “Marching 100” band, and supports future games like this one.

Cody thinks it’s a new day for all college football players.

“They have a lot more ability to get noticed, they have a lot more ability to make money as they get seen with the new situation (with) Name, Image and Likeness,” he said. “And so the more publicity, the better.”

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Florida A&M's football team played at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan Memorial Stadium on Aug. 27, 2022. The Tar Heels beat the Rattlers 56-24. It was part of what UNC called its "HBCU Celebration Weekend," which included a performance by FAMU's Marching 100.

Mitchell Northam / WUNC