Cramton Bowl Cramton Bowl is a 25 , 000 seat stadium located in Montgomery , Alabama . Cramton Bowl opened in 1922 as a baseball stadium and has been home to Major League Baseball spring training , as well as minor league baseball . It is the home stadium for the Faulkner University Eagles , as well as the area ' s four high schools . It hosted the first night football game in the South and was once home to the Blue - Gray Football Classic . Stadium history . Cramton Bowl is named for F . J . Cramton , who donated the land on which the stadium is built . The location , which is now Cramton Bowl , was originally a sanitary landfill owned by Fred Cramton , a local businessman . After a conversation with friends about the need for a baseball stadium , Cramton donated the land to the City so a facility could be constructed there . The City held the land for a time and then returned it , stating that Cramton ’ s stadium idea was too big of a project for the City to undertake . Cramton then decided to take matters into his own hands ; with the help of the Junior Chamber of Commerce , Cramton raised $ 33 , 000 to build the now iconic sports venue . Capacity . Seating capacity was expanded in 1929 to 7 , 991 . More additions were made in 1946 , increasing the seating capacity to 12 , 000 . East stands were added in 1962 bringing the seating capacity 24 , 000 . After new renovations were completed in July 2011 the capacity was reduced to 21 , 000 . Baseball . The first baseball game played on the new field was in May 1922 between Auburn University and Vanderbilt University . Shortly after its completion in 1922 the Philadelphia Athletics decided to move their spring training operations from Eagle Pass , Texas to Montgomery , Alabama . They used the facility for their 1923 and 1924 spring training and exhibition games before moving to a newer stadium in Fort Myers , Florida . After the departure of the Philadelphia Athletics spring training , Minor league baseball ' s newly formed Southeastern League placed a team in Montgomery . They became known as the Montgomery Lions . The Lions played in Cramton Bowl from 1927 to 1930 . There was no team from 1931 to 1936 due to problems within the Southeastern League . The team returned for the 1937 season as the Montgomery Bombers and garnered their first major league baseball affiliation with the Cleveland Indians . The Indians pulled out for the 1938 season and were replaced by the Philadelphia Phillies . After one season the Phillies dropped their affiliation , the team became a co - op franchise and were renamed the Montgomery Rebels . In 1943 , the Rebels would disband due to World War II . On July 11 of that year , the Chattanooga Lookouts moved their Washington Senators farm club from Chattanooga ' s Engel Stadium to Cramton Bowl to play the out the rest of the season . The Rebels returned in 1946 through 1949 before moving to the newly constructed Paterson Field located just across the street . Football . On September 23 , 1927 , Cramton Bowl became the site of the very first game played “ under the lights ” in the South with Cloverdale taking on Pike Road High School . Former superintendent D . H . “ Sarge ” Caraker remembers fondly , “ [ We ] used dishpans for reflectors and sent to California for the lamps . We drew 7 , 200 people from all over the South to see it . ” College football . Cramton Bowl plays host to all home games for Alabama State Hornets football as well as those for the Faulkner University Eagles . It is also home to the Turkey Day Classic and in 2009 hosted the inaugural HBCU All - star Bowl . Cramton Bowl also provided a location for Alabama Crimson Tide football home games in the capital city . The Crimson Tide played home games at Cramton Bowl in the 1922 through 1932 seasons , in 1934 , from 1944 through 1946 and again from 1951 through 1954 . Alabama ' s all - time record at Cramton Bowl was 17 wins and 3 losses . Cramton Bowl probably achieved its greatest fame as the home of the Blue - Gray Football Classic , an annual college football all - star game which was held there each December from 1938 until 2001 . High school football . Several area high schools call Cramton Bowl home including the Jeff Davis Volunteers , Lanier Poets , Lee Generals , and Carver Wolverines . In July 2011 , Cramton Bowl will host the AHSAA Alabama All - Stars Sports Week football game . Recent history . Cramton Bowl is widely regarded as being functionally obsolete for major sporting events . It is not the stadium ' s relatively small capacity that is a concern as much as its age and condition . The stadium has not been well maintained over the years , and by the start of the 21st century it was actually crumbling . These issues were factors although not the predominant ones , in the Blue - Gray Game not being held in 2002 and its subsequent relocation in 2003 to Troy , Alabama ' s Movie Gallery Stadium , about 50 miles ( 80 km ) from Montgomery . 2011 renovations . In mid - 2010 the City of Montgomery approved a measure for a $ 10 million renovation and addition to Cramton Bowl . The renovations planned for Cramton Bowl will be a unique mix of the old and the new . The current structure will stay , but will be revamped and updated with four entrances , a state - of - the - art press box , an aesthetically enhanced plaza area , and a “ Walk of Fame ” , which will celebrate Montgomery ’ s sports history and house various articles of historic sports memorabilia . Perhaps the most important and impressive addition will be the multi - purpose sports facility . Demolition of the north endzone and press box began in late November 2010 , which is phase one of the project . Phase two began in early January 2011 as crews removed an existing brick wall from the south endzone and dismantled the scoreboard to make way for the new multi - purpose sports facility . Work on the stadium is expected to be completed in July 2011 while the new multi - purpose facility is expected to be finished in mid - 2012 .