54-Year-Old MEAC Tournament Is Keeping Up With The Times

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

Much has changed since HBCU basketball fans sometimes wore bell bottoms, platform shoes, and used dollar bills to buy paper tickets at the gate when the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference officially hosted its first tournament in 1972 in Winston Salem.

Now, you must buy a digital ticket to attend the 2026 tournament that will be held March 11-14 at the Norfolk Scope, according to the 2026 MEAC website.

Digital tickets are one of many changes that MEAC has made through the years. This means tournament officials have changed locations multiple times, and added more activities.

Also, they’ve honored an increasing number of HBCU legends and celebrities at its annual tournament. It has welcomed HBCU fans to the Norfolk Scope since 2010.

This means fans continue to file into the Norfolk Scope and root for their favorite teams more than 50 years after MEAC came into existence when seven HBCUs cut ties with the CIAA in 1970 and formed MEAC, in other words. Although enthusiastic fans sometimes wore Afros, dashikis, platform shoes, or business suits to the inaugural tournament in Winston Salem 54 years ago in Winston Salem, they did not carry smartphones.

Now, “MEAC tournament tickets will be digital – not physical tickets,” the MEAC website noted, explaining its new policy for 2026. “Patrons must download their game tickets to their smartphone’s wallet app. Visit our Mobile Ticket Guide for more information and instructions.”

MEAC is headquartered in an 8,500 square-foot commercial building located three miles from the Norfolk International Airport. In January 2022, Sonja O. Stills took over as Commissioner — becoming the first female Commissioner in the conference’s history, as well as the first female Commissioner of a Division I HBCU conference.

MEAC represents 13 HBCUs located across the Atlantic coastline: Bethune-Cookman University, Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Savannah State University, and South Carolina State University.

Norfolk State won the 2025 MEAC Men’s Basketball Tournament, defeating South Carolina State with a score of 66-65. This year, your digital ticket will allow you to see which team will earn top honors at MEAC’s 2026 tournament.

Will Virginia State, Tuskegee, Clark Atlanta, and Morehouse eventually move to the more than 50-year-old MEAC tournament in Norfolk in 2026? Are more changes on the horizon?

In late December 2025, Virginia State University athletic director Tiffani Dawn Sykes was a special guest on HBCU Sports’ “12-Hour New Year’s Eve Pod-A-Thon.” She discussed a potential move by Virginia State University to MEAC with podcast host Chris Stevens.

Dawn Sykes said Virginia State has an amazing academic and athletic pedigree and could be an institution ripe to move up to Division I. Virginia State can afford a tournament move.

But she added, “As far as the MEAC, Chris, not today. Not today,” according to a Dec. 31, 2025 news report by Clutch Points.

The cost of MEAC tournament tickets for 2026 starts at $179.45 for full ticket books, which include admission to all games from March 11-14, 2026, at the Norfolk Scope.

Senior: $139.45* (Purchased at the Norfolk Scope Box Office Only) General Admission: $179.45

To purchase tickets or for more information on the 2026 MEAC Basketball Tournament, visit MEACHoops.com. Or purchase Ticketmaster tickets.

For more information on tournament activities, schedules, and fan resources, please visit MEAChoops.com.