Battle of the Bay (rivalry)

Battle of the Bay

Hampton Pirates Norfolk State Spartans
Sport	Football
First meeting	October 19, 1963 Norfolk State, 42–0
Latest meeting	October 4, 2025 Hampton, 41–34
Statistics
Meetings total	60
All-time series	Norfolk State leads, 30–29–1
Largest victory	Hampton, 60–0 (1992) Norfolk State, 52–0 (1970)
Longest win streak	Hampton, 5 (2002–2006) Norfolk State, 6 (1969–1974)
Current win streak	Hampton, 2 (2024–present)

14km
8.7miles

Norfolk State

Hampton

   

Locations in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.

The Battle of the Bay ^[1] is a U.S. college football rivalry between the Hampton Pirates and the Norfolk State Spartans. It is a match-up between two historically black NCAA Division I FCS programs in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

History

Private Hampton University and public Norfolk State University are both located in the Hampton Roads region of coastal Virginia. The two schools are located, respectively, in Hampton, Virginia and Norfolk, Virginia, across the James River from each other. As the name of the rivalry suggests, the James River empties into the Chesapeake Bay just downstream.

Hampton and Norfolk State were both members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in the FCS. On November 16, 2017, Hampton announced that they were becoming a member of the Big South Conference in 2018. The two teams are scheduled to meet again through 2024. ^[2]

The football series began in 1963 and has been played a total of 60 times as of 2025.

Game results

Hampton victories

Norfolk State victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 19, 1963 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 42–0 2 October 17, 1964 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 13–9 3 October 16, 1965 Portsmouth, VA Norfolk State 20–0 4 October 15, 1966 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 33–27 5 October 14, 1967 Portsmouth, VA Norfolk State 23–20 6 October 19, 1968 Hampton, VA Hampton 13–7 7 October 18, 1969 Portsmouth, VA Norfolk State 39–6 8 October 17, 1970 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 52–0 9 October 16, 1971 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 30–15 10 October 14, 1972 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 33–14 11 October 13, 1973 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 21–6 12 October 19, 1974 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 27–10 13 October 18, 1975 Norfolk, VA Hampton 27–7 14 October 16, 1976 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 24–7 15 October 15, 1977 Norfolk, VA Hampton 18–0 16 October 14, 1978 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 16–6 17 October 13, 1979 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 26–13 18 October 18, 1980 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 37–14 19 October 17, 1981 Norfolk, VA Hampton 23–20 20 October 16, 1982 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 25–7 21 October 15, 1983 Norfolk, VA Hampton 14–12 22 October 13, 1984 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 15–7 23 October 19, 1985 Norfolk, VA Hampton 36–35 24 October 18, 1986 Hampton, VA Hampton 19–14 25 October 17, 1987 Norfolk, VA Hampton 48–17 26 October 15, 1988 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 34–27 27 October 14, 1989 Norfolk, VA Tie 20–20 28 October 13, 1990 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 27–18 29 October 19, 1991 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 26–12 30 October 17, 1992 Hampton, VA Hampton 60–0 31 October 16, 1993 Norfolk, VA Hampton 48–21 No. Date Location Winner Score 32 October 15, 1994 Hampton, VA Hampton 53–28 33 October 14, 1995 Norfolk, VA Hampton 23–18 34 November 16, 1996 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 14–7 35 October 18, 1997 Norfolk, VA Hampton 9–2 36 October 17, 1998 Hampton, VA Hampton 59–14 37 October 16, 1999 Norfolk, VA Hampton 28–27 38 October 14, 2000 Hampton, VA Hampton 47–19 39 October 13, 2001 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 28–20 40 October 19, 2002 Hampton, VA Hampton 31–14 41 October 18, 2003 Norfolk, VA Hampton 52–0 42 October 16, 2004 Hampton, VA Hampton 58–10 43 October 15, 2005 Norfolk, VA Hampton 55–14 44 October 14, 2006 Hampton, VA Hampton 42–13 45 October 13, 2007 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 20–19 46 October 18, 2008 Hampton, VA Hampton 35–17 47 October 17, 2009 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 46–6 48 October 16, 2010 Hampton, VA Hampton 7–6 49 October 15, 2011 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 34–24 50 October 13, 2012 Hampton, VA Hampton 28–14 51 October 19, 2013 Norfolk, VA Hampton 27–17 52 October 18, 2014 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 21–13 53 September 26, 2015 Norfolk, VA Norfolk State 24–14 54 November 19, 2016 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 17–10 55 October 14, 2017 Norfolk, VA Hampton 16–14 56 October 2, 2021 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 47–44OT 57 September 17, 2022 Norfolk, VA Hampton 17–7 58 September 9, 2023 Hampton, VA Norfolk State 31–23 59 September 14, 2024 Norfolk, VA Hampton 37–7 60 October 4, 2025 Hampton, VA Hampton 41–34 Series: Norfolk State leads 30–29–1

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games
• Norfolk State–Old Dominion rivalry

References

1. "Hampton bounces Norfolk State 27–17 in Battle of the Bay". NCAA. Chicago Tribune. October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
2. "Hampton, Norfolk State set to resume "Battle of the Bay" in 2021". FBSchedules.com. November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.