The Soul Bowl is heading back to campus.

Alcorn State on Tuesday exercised its option to move the annual rivalry game with Jackson State to Lorman next season.

The Capital City Classic had been played at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson since 1994. Alcorn president M. Christopher Brown II and interim athletic director Dwayne White announced the move during a conference call with university stakeholders.

Brown said the decision was made after two years of studies showed the game was losing money in Jackson. He also cited a desire to showcase Alcorn’s campus and stadium, the transfer of ownership of Memorial Stadium from the state to JSU and the inability to find a title sponsor for the game as contributing factors.

“I have reviewed all the contracts going back through President Bristow. The dissolution of the independent Capital City Classic Committee poisoned the event, and we have been on life support ever since. The time has come to pull the plug. This is Alcorn’s home game and we will play it at home,” Brown said in a school release. “All contracts for this Classic have expired and there is no viable offer on the table that makes sense for me to sign.”

This year’s game is scheduled for Nov. 17.

Although the game has been played on Jackson State’s home field, the teams split ticket sales each year and alternate turns as the designated home team. Last season, JSU was the home team. This year it’s Alcorn’s turn, which opened the door for the move back to campus.

The move ends a push that began about five years ago and picked up steam when Brown became president in 2010.

Noting the announcement came on the eve of the July 4 holiday, Brown referenced the Declaration of Independence during Tuesday’s conference call — an obvious attempt to fire up Alcorn’s supporters.

“The facts are self-evident that the Lorman campus is an equal and adequate venue for any football game, including Jackson State,” Brown said. “The time has come to declare our independence from hosting the Capital City Classic on our rival school’s home field.”

New Alcorn coach Jay Hopson supported the move. A former Ole Miss player, he pointed out the similarities in that rivalry with the Alcorn-JSU series. Both have been played at Veterans Stadium at various times before returning to campus sites.

“It is time for this game to come home. Ole Miss and State used to play the Egg Bowl in Jackson, but realized that it was more beneficial to player morale, fan support, and finances to rotate the game between the two campuses,” Hopson said.

Alcorn will open the season Sept. 1 against Grambling. It’ll be played in Shreveport as the Port City Classic, but Brown said the economics of the contract were easier to digest than those of the Capital City Classic.

“Shreveport offers significant dollars from the tax base to support the Port City Classic, but much of the support in Jackson is in-kind,” Brown said. “Absent a corporate sponsor, the diminution of revenues to cover stadium rent, game security, parking attendants, and travel logistics … is not a conservative fiscal approach at a time when state universities must prudently spend every penny.”