HBCU Battle of the Bands at Legion Field canceled over low ticket sales

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - The Legends at Legion Field Battle of the Bands showcase, planned for Sunday, was canceled days before the event. Organizers said low ticket sales forced them to cancel the show.

The event was set to feature Alabama State University, Alabama A&M University, Southern University, Texas Southern University, North Carolina Central University, Albany State University, Arkansas Baptist College, Tennessee State University, and Miles College, according to the event’s ticketing page. Organizers had projected a crowd of more than 30,000 fans.

Birmingham has hosted HBCU marching band showdowns for decades. This year’s Battle of the Bands was scheduled to bring together college bands to compete on one field.

Professor Willie Snipes, director of bands at Miles College, said Birmingham has a long history with marching bands.

“Birmingham is a place that’s known for its marching bands. It dates back to the early 1900s,” Snipes said.

Snipes said the event’s appeal was having several university bands perform together.

“To have eight or nine university bands and one roof, that really was the selling point of this Battle of the Bands,” Snipes said.

Organizers of Legends at Legion Field said in a statement to WBRC that they made the difficult decision to cancel the show after exceptionally low ticket sales.

General admission tickets were priced at $35 in advance, with gate prices set to rise to $45 on event day, according to the event’s ticketing page.

Snipes said travel costs for out-of-state bands added to the event’s expenses.

“Just moving the Miles College band is thousands of dollars, so we’re talking about bands that were from Louisiana and Texas and North Carolina coming. So I can just imagine ticket sales probably was a big thing funding this event,” Snipes said.

Organizers said they understand what the event means to fans and did not want to move forward if they could not do it fully.

Snipes said Miles College had prepared for the showcase.

“We had a show, I was really excited. We was going to do a ballad and we had some dance routine that was out of this world. The home band definitely was going to bring the energy,” Snipes said.

Snipes said his students will look ahead to their next show and said he is hopeful the event will return.

“All week you practicing with two shows and it’s canceled. So I can imagine how the students feel around the nation, about this type of event being canceled. But who knows? It may come back. It may come back soon,” Snipes said.

Legends at Legion Field staff said they will talk with local stakeholders and release more details about the event’s future when they can.

Full statement from organizers

Organizers said full refunds are automatically being issued to everyone who bought tickets. Refunds are expected to post to accounts within 7-10 business days, according to the event’s ticketing page.

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