B. T. Harvey Stadium – Morehouse Maroon Tigers
Photos by Aaron S. Terry, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 2.86
B. T. Harvey Stadium 865 Westview Dr SW Atlanta, GA 30314
Year Opened: 1983
Capacity: 9,000
Our House
The Morehouse Maroon Tigers play their home games at B. T. Harvey Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, right next door to another D2 football program, the Clark Atlanta Panthers. The two football fields are less than one mile apart, making them the second-closest pair of college football stadiums in the US. Only Ouachita Baptist University and Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, are closer, at less than half a mile apart.
B. T. Harvey Stadium opened in 1983 and holds a total of 9,000 spectators. While the facility itself has fallen into disrepair, the venue still boasts a great band (the “House of Funk”), wonderful concessions, and fabulous sightlines. Unfortunately, very few fans attend games here.
Food & Beverage 4
B. T. Harvey Stadium has two concession stands on the home side, including a Zaxby’s and a Sideline Snacks by Chefskinnzllc. Zaxby’s offers chicken, chips, a cookie, and a drink for $12 in ready-to-go grab-n-go bags. However, almost no one buys from Zaxby’s thanks to the other option, Sideline Snacks, which offers burgers, wings, and fried fish. The food at Sideline Snacks is so good that it has lines out the door the entire game. The food is cooked fresh right outside the main entrance of the stadium and brought inside by runners every few minutes. Even the fish pieces are battered by hand as you watch – no frozen fish sticks here.
The only downside is that Sideline Snacks is so busy they tend to run out of food by the fourth quarter, even with a small crowd on hand. Combos run $13 to $18 for a burger with fries, a burger with wings, wings with fries, or fish with wings and fries. You can also buy individual items for less money, and beverages like bottled Coke products for $3.
Atmosphere 3
The atmosphere at B. T. Harvey Stadium is not bad. While the facility itself is showing obvious signs of disrepair, the sightlines are good, and you can get really close to the field. There are alumni and other organized groups set up in tents behind the south end zone and next to the north end zone, with food and beverages and even gas or charcoal grills. You can also sit in the first couple of rows of the grandstand – there is only one grandstand at the venue, on the west side.
The band also does a great job, especially the drum majors and color guard. They perform in the middle of the field during halftime, then move directly in front of the grandstand for their big finish. The band also performs before the game, except on special event days like Senior Day, when those events become the pregame show.
Neighborhood 3
B. T. Harvey Stadium is located in a rundown part of the city, so there isn’t much to do close to the venue, and you may not want to spend too much time in that area anyway. However, you are also less than 3 miles from downtown Atlanta and all its myriad attractions, such as the World of Coca-Cola, the Olympic torch from the 1996 Summer Olympics, and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. Six Flags Over Georgia is also in the Atlanta area.
Alternatively, if you want to enjoy even more college football, Atlanta is home to no fewer than four different college teams, including Clark Atlanta University right next to Morehouse College. The city is also home to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Atlanta Falcons.
Being so close to the big city, there are plenty of hotels to choose from to fit any budget, as well as hundreds of restaurants to match any type of food craving.
Fans 1
Unfortunately, almost no fans come out to football games at Morehouse College; there are nearly as many band members as fans, and many of those in the stands are supporting the visiting team. So the stands may seem almost empty, but on the plus side, that means you can pretty much sit wherever you want, as close to or as far from the field as you choose.
Access 4
Getting to B. T. Harvey Stadium is a lot easier than you might expect; the facility is less than half a mile off I-20, using Exit 55A or 55B depending on whether you are going east or west. The stadium property practically sits underneath the freeway.
For parking, there is a small grass lot across the street from the main entrance, and I also noticed some people parking on campus and walking from there. But if you are feeling bold, there is actually a narrow gap in the fence in front of the main entrance. Alums and others in the know drive through it and park on the grass right next to the stadium. I think this area is intended for the groups set up in tents behind the south end zone – the Outfield Fence tailgating area – but there is plenty of space, and no one stops anyone from parking there.
There is plenty of room to move around the concourse because of the crowd size, and there are plenty of bathrooms. You can also skip the line if you eat at Zaxby’s instead of Sideline Snacks, though very few people made that tradeoff. The only reason this section’s score isn’t higher is the stadium design: the bathrooms and concessions all have weird dogleg hallways you have to use to get in and out. There is also no signage telling you where the bathrooms are, so I saw many people asking the staff where to go.
Return on Investment 3
There are no tickets to attend games at B. T. Harvey Stadium, but even free admission isn’t enough to draw many fans. The stadium is perfectly fine, and you get a great performance from the band, as well as a low-stress college football experience where getting in and out is easy and you don’t have to fight any crowds. But there is also no mascot and nothing beyond the football game during breaks in the action – no games or contests. So I am not sure I would recommend it, given that the same city has three other college football options, including one less than a mile away. They might cost more, but they might also be a bit more exciting.
Extras 2
The P.A. announcer mixes it up a bit by naming first downs and touchdowns after different Maroon Tiger notables. You might hear “That’s a Coach Sherrod first down” or a touchdown named for First Lady Cynthia Harris Bowman, the school president’s wife. You can also bring your own food and non-alcoholic drinks into the stadium; you can even grill out during the game if you choose.
Final Thoughts
Unless you go to a game such as homecoming, you likely won’t see much energy or very many fans at B. T. Harvey Stadium for a Morehouse Maroon Tigers football game. So if you want to see Morehouse at its height, like the good old days, I would recommend planning your visit around homecoming. If you can’t make it then, you may want to wait until next season.
