How Extraordinary Entertainment Energized the Magic City Classic for the American Diabetes Association
American Diabetes Association
The American Diabetes Association is the nation's leading voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting the diabetes epidemic. As a nonprofit committed to promoting physical activity and community engagement, the ADA brings its mission directly to the people, meeting them where they are.
Legion Field is a historic stadium located in Birmingham, Alabama, best known as the home of the Magic City Classic, the largest HBCU football game in the United States. With a capacity for tens of thousands of fans and expansive surrounding tailgate lots, the venue serves as a premier destination for large-scale cultural events, drawing passionate alumni, students, and community members from across the region each year.
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Executive Summary
At the highly anticipated Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, Extraordinary Entertainment partnered with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to deliver an immersive brand activation. Tasked with creating a dynamic fan zone to capture the attention of thousands of football fans, our team designed and executed a multifaceted entertainment footprint right in the heart of the tailgate action. Producing a full-scale activation for the nation’s leading health organization at America’s largest HBCU event meant high visibility and high stakes for our production team.
The large-scale cultural event brings together passionate alumni, students, and community members. To help the ADA connect with this large and diverse crowd, Extraordinary Entertainment deployed a custom interactive sports arcade, a massive LED video wall, a live-feed 360 photobooth, and a professional sound system for an on-site DJ.
Blending high-energy physical challenges with seamless audiovisual technology, we converted a standard health awareness booth into a magnetic destination. Fans engaged in NFL-style drills, cheered each other on via the digital scoreboard, and captured shareable moments. This activation successfully amplified the ADA’s mission to promote active lifestyles while providing a thrilling experience for attendees, demonstrating Extraordinary Entertainment’s ability to turn complex logistical requirements into flawless, crowd-pleasing realities.
Project Overview
The Magic City Classic is the largest historically Black college and university (HBCU) football game in the United States. Held annually in Birmingham, Alabama (this year, on October 25, 2025, at Birmingham’s Legion Field), the event draws massive crowds for the game itself, alongside legendary tailgates, parades, and sponsor activations. It’s a cornerstone cultural event that offers brands an unparalleled opportunity to engage directly with the community.
The American Diabetes Association is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization fighting to bend the curve on the diabetes epidemic. An integral component of their outreach involves meeting people where they are and promoting the benefits of physical activity in a fun, accessible way.Â
The ADA recognized the Magic City Classic as the perfect venue to connect with the community, but they needed a production partner capable of executing a grand vision to make their presence truly stand out. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD and operating nationally, Extraordinary Entertainment was engaged to bring that grand vision to life.
Event Challenges
Standing out at the Magic City Classic is no small feat because the environment is notoriously loud, visually stimulating, and packed with competing brand activations. The ADA faced an additional (and highly unusual) hurdle: they needed to promote health awareness and physical fitness without feeling overly clinical or out of place at a lively football tailgate.
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The primary challenges for this activation included:
- Capturing Attention: The activation needed an immediate visual and auditory draw to pull fans away from massive tailgates and competing sponsor zones.
- Encouraging Physical Activity: The ADA wanted attendees to get moving. The solution needed to offer safe, engaging physical challenges that appealed to a wide demographic, from young children to competitive adults.
- Integrating Technology Outdoors: Delivering high-end audiovisual equipment, including a massive LED wall and live camera feeds, in an outdoor tailgate environment requires precise logistical planning, reliable power distribution, and weather-ready gear.
Creating Viral Moments: To maximize the ADA’s return on investment, the activation had to generate highly shareable content that attendees would naturally want to post on their social media channels.
Event Solutions
To meet these demands, Extraordinary Entertainment designed a comprehensive, turnkey fan zone experience. We handled everything from conceptual design and technical rigging to on-site execution and crowd management.
Our custom deployment for the ADA included:
- Interactive Sports Arcade: We built a custom physical challenge area featuring a vertical high jump test and timed NFL-style agility drills. This directly supported the ADA’s goal of getting people moving, turning fitness into a thrilling, competitive game.
- Massive LED Video Wall: To serve as the anchor of the footprint, we constructed a brilliant, high-resolution LED video wall. This wall served as a dynamic scoreboard for the sports arcade, displaying live times and jump heights, instantly drawing a crowd of cheering spectators.
- 360 Photobooth with Live Camera Feed: We integrated a state-of-the-art 360 photobooth that captured slow-motion, stylized videos of the fans. We routed a live camera feed from the booth directly to the massive LED wall, allowing the entire crowd to watch the fun unfold in real time.
- Professional Sound System and DJ Services: To keep the energy high and match the electric atmosphere of the Magic City Classic, we provided a top-tier sound system and DJ services. Our audio setup gave the on-site DJ the power to pump music throughout the zone, make clear announcements, and hype up the participants competing in the sports arcade.
Results
The Extraordinary Entertainment brand activation was a runaway success, yielding outstanding results for the American Diabetes Association and creating a major highlight at the Magic City Classic.
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The interactive sports arcade saw non-stop action from the moment the activation opened. By gamifying physical fitness, we helped the ADA successfully engage thousands of attendees in heart-pumping activity.
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As a result, the 360 photobooth generated hundreds of unique, branded videos. Because attendees were eager to share these high-quality clips on social media, the ADA’s message reached an audience far beyond the physical footprint of the event.
Our technical team flawlessly managed the complex routing of live camera feeds to the outdoor LED wall. The brilliant display remained clear and vibrant even in the bright Alabama sun, serving as a beacon that drew attendees from across the tailgate lots.
Because we expertly handled the heavy lifting of production, audio, and interactive staging, Extraordinary Entertainment enabled the ADA staff to focus entirely on their core mission: engaging with the community, sharing health resources, and building relationships.
Takeaways
The Magic City Classic brand activation stands as a testament to Extraordinary Entertainment’s expertise in blending interactive entertainment with flawless technical production. Our deep understanding of the core goals of the American Diabetes Association allowed us to design a space that was not only an incredibly fun space for participants to enjoy, but also one that was deeply aligned with their mission of promoting health and movement.
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When you combine compelling physical activities with top-tier audiovisual technology, you create an environment where attendees want to stay, play, and share. Strong communication, innovative design, and expert on-site management were the keys to this operational success. Extraordinary Entertainment continues to prove itself as a premier partner for brands looking to create unforgettable, high-impact experiential marketing activations.
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