Who claims the right to Dixieland Delight? Alabama and Tennessee should play for it, Clay Travis says

Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight” has become a cherished tradition among the Crimson Tide fanbase and is one of the highlights of Bryant-Denny Stadium and Alabama football.

However, as Tennessee fans often remind Alabama fans — especially after Alabama’s loss in Knoxville two years ago when Neyland Stadium’s sound engineer trolled the Tide by playing the song — the lyrics are actually about the State of Tennessee. Volunteer fans say Tide fans shouldn’t be able to claim it as their own.

One such Volunteer is Outkick founder Clay Travis, who shared a hilarious idea during a Tuesday appearance on The Next Round to settle the debate once and for all.

“What if the Tennessee vs Alabama game became a battle for the rights to play Dixieland Delight in the football stadium for a year?” @ClayTravis

Thoughts, @Vol_Football @AlabamaFTBL? pic.twitter.com/h72xdfwoAx

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) September 3, 2024

“What if the Tennessee vs Alabama game became a battle for the rights to play Dixieland Delight in the football stadium for a year?” Travis postulated. “You’ve got ‘A Tennessee Saturday night’ by the band Alabama, so both programs can have a claim on it being their song…I’m not aware of any other college rivalry where you can connect it to a song that’s beloved by both fanbases, I could see it turning into a really cool thing where when you win you play it for the first time…As fun as the Third Saturday in October is, the Battle for Dixieland Delight I think could be really fun.”

Although it’s unlikely the two schools would ever formally agree to such an arrangement, it is certainly a unique idea and probably one that both fanbases would be able to get behind.