Atlanta To Host Bowl Game Featuring HBCU Conference Champions

A new college bowl game is headed to Atlanta, with the champions of the SWAC and MEAC set to meet in the Celebration Bowl "beginning with the 2015 season." The game will be played at the Georgia Dome in '15 and '16 and is "expected to move into the new Falcons stadium thereafter." The inaugural game, scheduled for Dec. 19, will be televised by ESPN "on one of its networks" (AJC.com, 3/18).

ESPN Events will own the game. It also owns and operates the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, played annually over Labor Day weekend. Both conferences feature historically black colleges within FCS, and both will forego their automatic bids in the FCS playoffs while sending their champions to the bowl game (THE DAILY).