FAMU football to play 11 games on ESPN networks during HBCU title-defending 2024 season

Can’t make it to a Florida A&M football game this season?

No worries.

Most of the defending Black College Football National Champions’ games will be televised during the 2024 season.

The Southwestern Athletic Conference released its ESPN football schedule for 2024 on Wednesday. Eleven of the Rattlers’ 12 games will be on the network and its affiliates.

FAMU’s opener versus Norfolk State in Week 0’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge will kick off HBCU football season on ABC on Aug. 24. It’ll be the Rattlers’ first game under first-year head coach James Colzie III. This year’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge is FAMU’s first time participating in the annual game since 2013.

The Rattlers will play on ESPN+ for six games, starting with their Week 1 home opener versus the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Aug. 31. ESPN+ will also stream FAMU’s games against Troy (Sept. 21), Alabama A&M (Sept. 28), Alabama State (Oct. 5), Texas Southern (Nov. 2), and Prairie View A&M (Nov. 9).

FAMU will also play its SWAC games against Jackson State (Oct. 19), Southern (Oct. 26), and Bethune-Cookman (Nov. 23) on ESPN outlets that are to be determined.

The ACC Network will carry FAMU’s non-conference game at Miami on Sept. 7.

If the Rattlers are to reach the SWAC Championship game, they will play on ESPN2. The team with the better conference record will host the Dec. 7 game as FAMU did in 2023.

The Celebration Bowl, the de facto Black College National Championship, has been moved up a week and will played on Dec. 14 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on ABC. The schedule modification keeps the game as the kickoff to bowl season as the College Football Playoff starts on Dec. 20 because of its new 12-team format.

Florida A&M Rattlers 2024 Football Schedule

Aug. 24 vs. Norfolk State in MEAC/SWAC Challenge, Atlanta* at 7:30 p.m., ABC

• Aug. 31 vs. South Carolina State, 6 p.m., ESPN+

• Sept. 7 at Miami, 6 p.m., ACC Network

• Sept. 21 at Troy, 7 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+

• Sept. 28 vs. Alabama A&M, 6 p.m., ESPN+

• Oct. 5 at Alabama State, 6 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+

• Oct. 19 at Jackson State, TIME TBA, ESPN Network

• Oct. 26 vs. Southern, TIME TBA, ESPN Network

• Nov. 2 vs. Texas Southern (HOMECOMING), 4 p.m., ESPN+

• Nov. 9 at Prairie View A&M, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+

• Nov. 16 vs. Mississippi Valley State, 1 p.m.

• Nov. 23 vs. Bethune-Cookman, Orlando*, 3:30 p.m., ESPN Network

• Nov. 30: FCS Playoffs Begin

• Dec. 7: SWAC Championship, LOCATION/TEAMS TBA, ESPN2

• Dec. 14: Celebration Bowl, Atlanta*, TEAMS TBA, 12 p.m., ABC

BOLD = SWAC

* = Neutral Site