This is an opinion column.
If you weren’t there on that seismic Birmingham night in October, you were one of the few. Or so it seemed.
More than 35,000 ticket-holders from in, around and out of town filled (and then some) Protective Stadium on that warm, clear-sky evening for the Breezy Bowl XX, the Birmingham stop on the popular entertainer’s 30-plus-city national tour.
It never would have happened had Protective not been built, and it almost wasn’t. On March 27, 2018, after a seven-hour city council meeting in which countless residents spoke for (and mostly against) a resolution to spend $90 million over 30 years to construct the stadium and renovate Legacy Arena, the item was approved, but just barely — 6 to 3. Councilors LeShunda Scales, Sheila Tyson and Darrell O’Quinn voted thumbs down.
“It doesn’t benefit us anything to build this stadium here,” said Robert Walker, who was then vice president of the Wahouma Neighborhood Association. “The people don’t want it.”
“We don’t need a stadium in our neighborhood,” declared Edna Freeman, on behalf of the Druid Nills Neighborhood Association, just north of where the stadium now sits. “It can go somewhere else.”
Seven years later, the city’s $3 million annual debt payment looks like couch change relative to the payoff. Protective and Legacy now regularly attract artists and sporting events for whom Birmingham would have previously never even been a thought. Additionally, the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Complex has seen a rise in conventions and other meetings and gatherings, allowing the region to more than hold its own against cities such as Huntsville, Memphis, Louisville and Chattanooga.
Those events helped elevate tourism to be one of the primary drivers of recent economic growth in the Birmingham region.
This summer, the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau announced that in 2024, tourism generated $302 million in tax revenue for the region, with a record $2.57 billion in overall economic impact. More than 4 million visitors stayed overnight, the most since 2017.
It’s no secret that tourism in ’25 was squeezed nationwide by Donald Trump’s tariffs and international threats, which prompted many global travelers to stay home or go elsewhere. Industry analysts estimate that 4.5 million fewer international visits to the U.S. were expected in 2025, reports The New York Times.
Those headwinds didn’t completely bypass the Birmingham region, but they were not as stiff as in other cities.
Throughout the year, I attend various public board meetings around the region. They oversee millions in spending and revenue, so somebody should be there to watch on behalf of the public. What transpires is mostly mundane financial and operational stuff. Sometimes, it inspires a story (See: City Walk mess). Primarily, being there feeds my nerd-need to know how things work, and what happens when they do (or don’t).
Breezy Bowl XX worked. As did other BJCC events in 2025, including four events in March comprising Birmingham’s own “madness”: the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Monster Jam, SEC Gymnastics Championships and the NCAA Women’s Basketball Regional.
After beating Duke 54-50 in the Elite Eight at Legacy to go to her fifth straight Final Four, South Carolina’s legendary coach Dawn Staley stood on the court and said: “Everybody felt welcome, from our hotel to just walking around the street to being in this arena.”
March turned out to be the appetizer; October was the main course.
That month more than 74,000 folks attended nine events at various BJCC venues: MasterChef All-Stars Live, NBA YoungBoy (ask your kids), an NBA preseason game between the New Orleans Pelicans vs. Houston Rockets, Rick Springfield & Richard Marx, The Black Jacket Symphony, UAB football’s loss to Army and upset win over #22-ranked Memphis, Birmingham Legion FC’s loss to Miami FC, the Alabama Bridal & Wedding Expo, and Pastor Mike Jr’s (full disclosure, he’s my pastor) Celebration Concert.
Breezy Bowl XX was only the second outdoor concert at the stadium, after Garth Brooks’ appearance in June of 2022, which somehow lassoed 45,000 into the spanking new venue for the country boy from my home state of Oklahoma. Breezy Bowl marked the third largest attendance at the stadium behind Brooks and the 2012 Birmingham Bowl between Auburn and Houston.
For my fellow nerds, here’s Breezy Bowl XX by the numbers:
- 60 semis were utilized to haul the show to Protective — 45 for lights, sound and pyrotechnics, 15 for the elaborate stage.
- 42 hours were needed to load and build the stage, which happened overnight before the Saturday show.
- 111,000 sq. ft. of I-Trac flooring (comprising 11,650 individual pieces) covered the field, requiring 9 hours to install.
- 28 hours were required to break the whole thing down and load it back onto the semis for the next stop.
- In between, Brown and his team performed 226 minutes of music
- Brown was airborne for 113 seconds
As for those who were there, y’all put the consume in consumers, eating:
- 1,504 hot dogs
- 9,702 chicken tenders
And drinking:
- 5,084 bottles of water
- 4,268 beers.
Etc.:
- 3,692 pieces of merchandise were sold
Outside the stadium, the Sheraton and Westin hotels in Birmingham sold out during the Breezy Bowl XX weekend. (Equating about 300 room nights at the Sheraton and 200 at the Westin).
Hotel occupancy downtown on the night of the concert was 91.6% and 87.5% throughout Jefferson County, according to the CVB, bumps from both weekends in the previous year.
“Although overall weekend hotel occupancy was down year over year, the spike in hotel stays the night of the concert underscores how powerful these premier events are for our community and for Birmingham as a leading destination,” said Dan Williams, CVB’s president & CEO.
For October, Birmingham’s hotel occupancy (69%) bested Mobile, Huntsville, Chattanooga, Louisville, Memphis and New Orleans, the CVB found.
At this month’s CVB board meeting, BJCC CEO Tad Snider, who is not on the board, said 2025 may be the best year in the complex’s 50-year history.
“It shows how much it means to have a diversified portfolio of events,” he added.
And how imperative it is that in ’26, public officials in the Birmingham region prioritize investing in renovating places like ancient Legion Field, the outdated BJCC convention center and building new venues in, say, Hoover.
And ordering plenty of hot dogs.