Cleveland Classic college football game coming to Cleveland

CLEVELAND - This September, college football is coming back to Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission announced Wednesday Central State University will play North Carolina Central University in the first annual Cleveland Classic presented by McDonald’s.

The game will be part of a weekend of events, including a College and Career Fair and a Greek Step Show on Friday September 9. The football game will kickoff at noon the next day, Saturday, September 10, 2011.

According to David Gilbert, President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, the impact to Cleveland will be in the million of dollars.

“It’s not just the local crowd and excitement for the local community, it will be thousands of people who come to town year in and year out for this event,” said Gilbert.

Tickets are on sale now and range in price from $15 to $45 with discounted prices available for groups.

“It was important for us to have an affordable event for the community,” added Gilbert.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, among dignitaries at the announcement on Wednesday, said having the event here is another example of people choosing to hold their events in Cleveland.

“Our downtown sports venues, superb theater district and top of the line restaurants are just a few of the amenities that truly offer a uniquely Cleveland experience,” said the mayor.

The game will air on FOX Sports Ohio.