App State and Charlotte 49ers to face off in Bank of America Stadium in 2025
The Mountaineers and the 49ers have a date in Bank of America Stadium.
The Charlotte Sports Foundation announced on Thursday that Appalachain State and Charlotte will face off in the 2025 Duke’s Mayo Classic. The game will be played Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.
“What an exciting matchup to kick off the 2025 season,” Mike Hill, Charlotte’s athletic director, said via news release. “We have tremendous respect for App State and look forward to battling them at Bank of America Stadium in front of a huge crowd of Niners and Mountaineers fans.”
Kickoff time and ticket information will be announced at a later date.
This news comes a day after the Charlotte Sports Foundation and Tepper Sports & Entertainment announced an extension on their agreement to host events in the stadium. The city of Charlotte’s largest venue held a record-setting 39 events in 2022, and that use will continue beyond 2023 as well.
In other words: more Carolina Panthers home games, Charlotte FC home games, high-profile concerts and other events — including local/national college football games like this one — are on the horizon.
The Duke’s Mayo Classic is an annual college football game that is played on the opening weekend of the season. It was established in 2015. (It was initially known as the “Belk College Kickoff” before 2020.)
Through the years, this early season contest has compelled regional and national interest. You can see that in the past three matchups alone: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 3 Clemson in 2021; NCCU vs. NC A&T in 2022; and No. 21 North Carolina vs. South Carolina in 2023.
The matchup for September 7, 2024? N.C. State vs. Tennessee.
Charlotte 49ers first time in Duke’s Mayo Classic
The 2025 matchup between Charlotte and App State will mark the fourth meeting of the two programs. App State is 3-0 against the 49ers to date.
This will mark the first time Charlotte is playing in the Duke’s Mayo Classic.
The 49ers entered the FBS ranks in July 2015 as part of Conference USA. Since doing so, the program has notched only one winning season — going 7-6 in 2019. The 49ers are competing in the American Athletic Conference for the first time this season and are 3-7 in the first year of head coach Biff Poggi, one of the more compelling hires in all of college football this offseason.
App State entered the FBS ranks a season before the 49ers did, in 2014, but the Mountaineers have seen much more success. That success includes a 13-1 record in 2019 and three non-losing seasons thereafter. The Mountaineers, coached by Shawn Clark since 2020, are 6-4 so far this season — one of those losses being a double-overtime defeat to Top 25-ranked UNC.
“We have an incredible base of alumni and fans in the Charlotte area, as evidenced by the crowd in our last Duke’s Mayo Classic appearance,” Doug Gillin, App State’s athletic director, said via press release.
He was referring to the September 2021 iteration of the contest, when the Mountaineers beat ECU in front of a crowd of over 36,000 people.
“These kinds of matchups are great for the state of North Carolina and great for college football,” Gillin continued. “Thank you to Danny Morrison and the Charlotte Sports Foundation for this opportunity.”
