President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will attend next week’s college football matchup between the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia, adding another high-profile sporting event to his schedule leading up to the midterm elections.
Trump revealed his plans at the beginning of a rally in Mobile, Alabama, where he was campaigning for Republican candidates before voters head to the polls next month.
“We love Alabama,” Trump said. “In fact, we love it so much, I’ll be here again next Saturday to watch a football game between Georgia and Alabama. They say it’s going to be a good game, I would think so.”
The president later returned to the matchup during his remarks, calling it “big-time college football.” Trump also discussed the Senate-passed Protect College Sports Act, which would establish a federal framework for name, image, and likeness payments, cap the amount universities can give directly to athletes, create rules for transfers, and establish other regulations governing college sports.
Trump has frequently mixed politics and college football, particularly in the South. Just last week he headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, to watch the Volunteers take on the Texas Longhorns. He attended the Alabama-Georgia game in Tuscaloosa in September 2024 while campaigning for president, receiving a prominent welcome at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The rally on Friday included the president affirming his support for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), the former Auburn University football coach who is running for governor. Trump joked that he initially questioned whether Tuberville could win statewide because he had beaten Alabama six consecutive times as Auburn’s head coach.
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“He was a great coach, but he had a problem. I said he can’t win,” Trump said, recalling when he first heard of Tuberville. “He beat Alabama in football six years in a row, or something.” Tuberville’s Auburn Tigers beat Alabama six times in a row from 2002-07.
Trump said Tuberville eventually won him over by pointing to the success Alabama found after their losses.