Black-owned transport company has kept the Magic City Classic moving for nearly 20 years.

An Atlanta-based, Black-owned transportation company is continuing a family legacy that spans decades while helping thousands of football fans attend one of the nation’s largest HBCU sporting events, the Magic City Classic, AL.com reports. For the past 18 years, Vectour Group has provided shuttle services for Birmingham, Alabama’s Magic City Classic, the annual football rivalry between Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University. Under the leadership of President and CEO Reginald Haslam Jr., the company transports more than 13,000 attendees each year, according to the outlet.

Vectour Group was founded in the late 1970s by Reggie Haslam Sr. What began as a transportation operation he ran while holding down another full-time job eventually grew into a business serving major entertainment and sporting events. Among its early clients were the Jackson 5 and singer Peabo Bryson.

The company later expanded its reach to include events such as the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 2012 London Olympics, the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, and Major League Baseball’s historic 2024 game at Rickwood Field. Haslam Jr. started working in the family business at age 16, taking on tasks ranging from cleaning buses to helping passengers.

He took over operational leadership in 2013, while his father remained involved. “I literally grew up on the bus. I grew up with diesel fuel in my veins,” Haslam told the outlet.

Since partnering with Birmingham in 2008, Vectour Group has helped coordinate transportation for the Magic City Classic, which draws more than 100,000 spectators each year. For the 2026 event, the company plans to assign 70 drivers to shuttle fans to and from Legion Field. In addition to transportation services, Vectour Group also works with local historically Black colleges and universities to recruit and train about 30 students each year for support roles.

Damonde Dickerson, a senior project manager with the company, said the shuttle operation has made transportation around the event safer and more organized. “It’s an honor to be a part of the solution to that problem,” Dickerson told the outlet. Nearly 20 years into its Magic City Classic partnership, Vectour Group continues to show how a family-owned business can grow its impact while creating jobs and strengthening community ties.

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