| Wide: | yes |
| Battle of the Bay | |
| Team1: | Hampton Pirates |
| Team1logo: | Hampton Pirates wordmark.png |
| Team2: | Norfolk State Spartans |
| Team2logo: | Norfolk State Spartans wordmark.png |
| Sport: | Football |
| Firstmeeting: | October 19, 1963 Norfolk State, 42–0 |
| Mostrecent: | September 14, 2024 Hampton, 37–7 |
| Total: | 59 |
| Series: | Norfolk State leads, 30–28–1 |
| Largestvictory: | Hampton, 60–0 (1992) Norfolk State, 52–0 (1970) |
| Longeststreak: | Hampton, 5 (2002–2006) Norfolk State, 6 (1969–1974) |
| Currentstreak: | Hampton, 1 (2024–present) |
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.
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 59 times as of 2024.