An Atlanta-based, Black-owned transportation company is carrying on a decades-long family legacy while helping thousands of football fans attend one of the nation’s largest HBCU sporting events, Magic City Classic, AL.com reports.
For 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.
Led by Reginald Haslam Jr., the company’s president and CEO, Vectour Group transports more than 13,000 attendees annually, according to the outlet.
Founded in the late 1970s by
Reggie Haslam Sr., the company grew from a transportation operation he managed while working another full-time job into a business serving major entertainment and sporting events. Its early clients included the Jackson 5 and singer Peabo Bryson.Vectour Group later expanded its operations to events including 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. began working in the family business at 16, doing everything from cleaning buses to assisting passengers. He assumed 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 manage transportation for the Magic City Classic, which attracts more than 100,000 spectators annually.
For the 2026 event, the company plans to deploy 70 drivers to transport fans to and from Legion Field.
Beyond transportation, Vectour Group works with local historically Black colleges and universities to recruit and train approximately 30 students annually for support positions.
Damonde Dickerson, a senior project manager at the company, said the shuttle operation has improved transportation safety and organization around the event.
“It’s an honor to be a part of the solution to that problem,” Dickerson said to the outlet.
Nearly two decades into its Magic City Classic partnership, Vectour Group continues to demonstrate how a family-owned business can expand its reach while creating employment opportunities and strengthening community partnerships.
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