Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, organizers moved the 2005 event from the Superdome to Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, where many of New Orleans' evacuees were living.

It is the best known annual game and rivalry in historically black college or university (HBCU) football and was nationally televised in the U.S. by NBC from 1991 to 2014.

The Bayou Classic was the only National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Championship Subdivision game to be shown regularly on broadcast television.

Following the Greek show, the two renowned bands stage elaborately choreographed performances on the Friday night before the game.

The event happens the day before the game begins and is an approximately 100 mile run that takes between seven and ten hours to complete.

[8] Other activities usually include a press conference, black business showcase, golf tournament, coaches luncheon, a concert/fan festival, tailgating, fashion show, pep rally, alumni functions, a Louisiana high school battle of the bands, college recruitment fair, a Bayou Classic Parade, and a job fair for graduating students of both institutions.

[12] 250,000 visitors descend upon New Orleans over the course of the events leading up to the game, and the national television audience has attracted between four and five million viewers.

[16] However, Florida A&M,[17] Southern, and Grambling were ordered by the NCAA to vacate wins in multiple sports due to the questionable eligibility of hundreds of their student athletes in the 2010s.

After it was re-branded as the Bayou Classic and moved to New Orleans, a trophy was added and numerous events were also scheduled to be held throughout the week leading up to the game itself.

[24] A brawl during that game led to a suspension of the series for the next decade (a period in which the Jaguars won three black national championships) and delayed GSU's admittance to SWAC membership until 1958, shortly before the rivalry was resumed.

The game was then permanently moved to off-campus neutral sites the following year, drawing a large crowd of 40,000 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and influencing the decision to create the Bayou Classic.