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The 2026 SIAC ESPN networks schedule had plenty of highlights, but the most significant one came at the very top. Tuskegee’s Black Tails Classic received a network bump from ESPNU to ESPN2 to accompany its move to Week Zero Sunday.
The move to Week Zero is already paying off before West Alabama and Tuskegee take the Cramton Bowl field. The Red Tails Classic will now be the only college football game on television the entire day.
In its previous Labor Day Eve spot, the classic had to compete with a primetime game on ABC, while Sunday Night Baseball bumped it down to ESPNU.
While there may not seem like much of a difference between ESPNU and ESPN2 with the presence of over-the-top methods (e.g. YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV), ESPNU has lower carriage than its parent networks. ESPNU is available in around 36 million homes, while ESPN and ESPN2 reach around 68 million homes.
Comparisons to the Orange Blossom Classic’s TV ratings over the last few years show the impacts of these two factors. ESPN broadcast the Orange Blossom Classic in the midafternoon of mid-Labor Day Eve and only competed with the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic on NFL NetworkThe table below depicts selected ratings.
| Year | Orange Blossom Classic Viewrship | Red Tails Classic Viewership |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 700,000 | Unavailable |
| 2022 | 958,000 | Unavailable |
| 2023 | 438,000 | 67,000 |
| 2024 | 686,000 | 31,000 |
Sources: Sports Media Watch, HBCU Sports
Given the previous numbers, the Red Tails Classic will likely exceed its previous record high by 500 percent. Even a 1,000 percent increase is realistic.
The Red Tails Classic is now a focal point on the college football calendar, much like the Orange Blossom Classic. The ratings will likely confirm this claim. In the transfer portal era, this is the type of recruiting edge non-power Four schools must pursue.
