ESPN announced plans to host a significant event this December. The Worldwide Leader presented pans to hold the Band of the Year National Championship.
The event, powered by ESPN, will feature marching bands from Historically Black Colleges and Universities across Division I and Division II.
ESPN’s press release read:
ESPN Events will present the inaugural Band of the Year National Championship, a prestigious competition featuring the nation’s top marching bands from Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs). The event will take place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on December 15 in advance of the 2023 Cricket Celebration Bowl, the unofficial HBCU National Championship college football game between the champions of the MEAC and SWAC.
The network says that they will air the event live on December 15, where they say the top two marching bands in the country will compete against each other.
An event like this will undoubtedly bring positive attention to the Celebration Bowl between the MEAC and SWAC champions. Making the weekend of that game more of an event also feels like a smart move to try and jump more off the mat—people both like significant events and like flocking to them. You’re seeing that right now again around the country, whether at the movies or concerts.
So, in that case, the marching band competition it feels like the smartest possible addition to the fray on ESPN that weekend.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022