CHICAGO (PRNewswire) — Football is back, and Coors Light returns to kick off the 2014 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Classics season with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Challenge.
Supporting the HBCU Classics for more than 25 years, Coors Light maintains its commitment as a community leader that supports higher education, civic leadership and economic empowerment. This year, Coors Light is awarding each participating school $10,000 in scholarships, benefitting juniors and seniors 21 years of age and older. Over the past six years, Coors Light has invested more than $1 million in the HBCU community by providing scholarships to participating colleges and universities.
"Our partnership with the HBCU Football Classics demonstrates our leadership in improving education, economic empowerment and our commitment to developing leaders in the African-American community," says Steve Canal, community commerce and partnerships manager at MillerCoors. "We are excited to kick off another HBCU Classics season, offering legal-drinking-age fans a great time while helping our community."
To kick off each Classic, Coors Light will host a tailgate event where fans 21 and older can celebrate and enjoy the World's Most Refreshing Beer before cheering on their favorite HBCU football team. At select Classics, fans will have an opportunity to catch a special performance by rapper 2 Chainz and a cooking demonstration by former "Hell's Kitchen" finalist, chef Jason Ellis. For a safe night out, Coors Light will emphasize that 21 Means 21 and encourage fans to freeze the keys, plan ahead and always designate a driver. Through its continued partnership with 1-800-TAXICAB, Coors Light also will provide $10 cab vouchers, encouraging legal-drinking-age guests to drink responsibly. Vouchers will be available at various Coors Light activations, including the HBCU Classics, tailgates and select retail locations.
The 2014 Coors Light HBCU Classics schedule is as follows:
Classics Schedule
- MEAC/SWAC Challenge – Aug. 31 (Coors Light tailgate event: 9 a.m. – kick off)
- Southern Heritage Classic – Sept. 13 (Coors Light tailgate event: noon – 5:30 p.m.)*
- Chicago Football Classic – Oct. 4 (Coors Light tailgate event: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.)
- Atlanta Football Classic – Oct. 4 (Coors Light tailgate event: 11 a.m – 2 p.m.)*
- Circle City Classic – Oct. 4 (Coors Light tailgate event: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.)
- Magic City Classic – Oct. 25 (Coors Light tailgate event: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.)*
- Florida Classic – Nov. 22 (Coors Light tailgate event: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.)*
- Bayou Classic – Nov. 29 (Coors Light tailgate event: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.)
*Denotes Coors Light HBCU Classics featuring 2 Chainz and chef Jason Ellis.
About Coors Brewing Company
Coors Brewing Company was founded in 1873 by Adolph Coors, who chose the Clear Creek Valley in Golden, Colo., for his new brewery because of the pure water in the nearby Rocky Mountain springs. The brewery's original and most enduring beer is Coors Banquet (Coors.com, Facebook.com/CoorsBanquet), still brewed exclusively in Golden using only Rocky Mountain water and high-country barley. Coors Light (CoorsLight.com, Facebook.com/CoorsLight, @CoorsLight on Twitter) was introduced in 1978 and now is the second-best-selling beer in the United States. Triple-filtered smooth Keystone Light (KeystoneLight.com, Facebook.com/KeystoneLight) is one the country's most popular economy beers. Coors Brewing Company operates in the United States and Puerto Rico as part of MillerCoors, a joint venture of SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company. Learn more at MillerCoors.com, at Facebook.com/MillerCoors or on Twitter through @MillerCoors.