“We are excited to celebrate this upcoming HBCU football season with our consumers and want to provide them with a great football experience,” said Jennifer Jones, vice president, AT&T Diverse Markets. “We want our consumers to know that we are committed to empowering the communities we serve through our commitment to diversity and education.”

As part of activating the Nation’s Football Classic and the HBCU Tailgate Tour sponsorships, AT&T will host various events for fans to join in on the celebration before and after the games. These activities include a digital lounge with prize giveaways, games, step shows, karaoke competitions and much more.

Here is a preview of some of the activities AT&T will host this HBCU football season:

AT&T Nation’s Football Classic

The inaugural game featuring the highly anticipated matchup between Morehouse College and Howard University will be held on Sept. 10 at Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Stadium in Washington, D.C. There are also events scheduled around the game for consumers to enjoy. Events surrounding the football classic include:

The Russ Parr Morning Show and Rickey Smiley Morning Show are set to host the official tailgate parties for a series of HBCU football classic games and homecoming events that reach audiences of up to 60,000. The tour will stop in eight different markets – Birmingham, Ala.; Orlando, Fla.; Atlanta; Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis; Durham, N.C.; Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Va. – and provide fans with the opportunity to participate in karaoke competitions, Greek step show performances, cookout contests, and more. The tour runs from Sept. 1-Nov. 30.

The games schedule for the HBCU Tailgate Tour can be found below, or by visiting att.com/thebridge.

For more information and detailed disclaimer information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at http://www.att.com/newsroom.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Today’s commitment results from AT&T developing detailed analysis focused specifically on identifying opportunities with the T-Mobile merger to bring good-paying wireless call center jobs back to the United States.

In addition to bringing jobs back, AT&T committed that the merger will not result in any job losses for U.S.-based wireless call center employees of T-Mobile USA or AT&T, who are on the payroll when the merger closes.

The 5,000 new wireless call center jobs at AT&T will offer among the nation’s most highly competitive wages and benefits. AT&T, which has not yet determined where in the U.S. the new jobs will be located, is the nation’s largest employer of full-time union employees and the only unionized major U.S. wireless carrier.

“At a time when many Americans are struggling and our economy faces significant challenges, we’re pleased that the T-Mobile merger allows us to bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States and significantly increase our investment here,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman and CEO. “This merger and today’s commitment are good for our employees, our customers and our country.”

Today’s announcement represents the largest commitment by an individual American company to bring jobs back to the U.S. since the economic crisis began in 2008.

Also, AT&T has committed as part of the T-Mobile merger to increase its U.S. infrastructure investment by more than $8 billion.  According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute that was commissioned by the Communications Workers of America, AT&T’s increased investment is estimated to produce up to approximately 96,000 new U.S. jobs.

AT&T said today’s jobs commitment does not change its previous guidance on the expected overall merger synergies.

Beyond the jobs created, AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile USA provides a fast, efficient and certain solution to the impending exhaustion of wireless spectrum in many markets, which limits both companies’ ability to meet the ongoing explosive customer demand for mobile broadband. The uniquely complementary nature of AT&T and T-Mobile’s network assets will allow the combined company to add wireless network capacity – the functional equivalent of new spectrum – sooner than any other alternative.

This additional wireless network capacity will enable AT&T to offer better service — fewer dropped and blocked calls, and faster data speeds. Plus, the economic scale, additional spectrum and other benefits resulting from the merger will enable AT&T to deliver high-speed 4G LTE mobile broadband service to 97 percent of the U.S. population, or 55 million more Americans than it would without the merger. Reaching 97 percent of the population with LTE will create a much more extensive and robust mobile broadband platform that will fuel growth and investment throughout the country.

The benefits of the AT&T and T-Mobile merger have been recognized by numerous elected officials throughout the country, including 27 governors, more than 100 mayors, 11 state attorneys general, 79 Democratic Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and more than 150 chambers of commerce from 40 states, as well as a dozen labor unions and dozens of high-tech companies, such as Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo! and Oracle.