College basketball exhibition games have been through several eras.

Who remembers Athletes In Action — the barnstorming band of former college players who traveled the nation for tune-up games?

The Harlem Globetrotters did the same. Then it was Division II schools who’d visit; UA-Huntsville would play in Tuscaloosa, for example.

Now we’re onto the charity exhibition days and they look quite different.

For Auburn, that means playing Furman on Oct. 27 in Greenville, S.C., and FAU on Nov. 1 in Neville Arena.

Alabama’s taking its show on the road.

The Crimson Tide will play games in Birmingham against Wake Forest on Friday and Huntsville against Memphis on Oct. 28.

They’re opportunities with three beneficiaries. The teams get to test themselves against teams on their level, fans get experiences they wouldn’t otherwise and, of course, there’s a charitable component required by the NCAA.

Auburn’s game with Furman will benefit park restoration projects in Greenville while the home game with FAU will benefit the school’s Melton Scholars Program to increase access for underrepresented students.

Alabama’s games will generate money for Children’s of Alabama and the Huntsville Hospital Foundation.

Of the four, the Birmingham game for Alabama stands out.

Instead of playing in a traditional venue, the Crimson Tide will meet Wake Forest in Boutwell Auditorium — a 100-year-old multi-purpose arena that’ll seat just over 2,300 fans in Friday night.

Birmingham-based Knight Eady has the contract to handle the game management and operations.

Company president Michael Eady said they explored multiple venues for the game from airplane hangars at the airport to Bill Harris Arena in the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Knight Eady is already organizing Alabama’s Nov. 20 game with Illinois in the spacious BJCC arena, so they wanted a more intimate setting to separate the experiences. They settled on Boutwell.

It’s a facility that’s hosted concerts ranging from Billy Joel to Queen and Willie Nelson to the Foo Fighters, KISS and Nirvana.

It was also home to sumo wrestling at the 2022 World Games.

But not a ton of basketball.

The Birmingham Power, a professional women’s hoops team, called it home from 2004-05, but the building, which dates back to 1924, wasn’t equipped for modern college basketball.

“We wanted to create something different,” Eady said. “Fans are consuming basketball most of the time in arenas that seat anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 people and it’s fine. But we’ll have 2,316 people inside the Boutwell Auditorium. And it is nontraditional. So, like, we are literally having to bring in everything.”

That means renting everything from the playing floor, the backboards and rims to LED boards, scoreboards and the sound system. Arena set up began Monday and was set to be ready for the teams to practice on site Thursday.

It also increases the cost of the charity event. Michael Eady said they’ll present a check to Children’s of Alabama during the game. They guarantee the donation will be at least $10,000.

“And then depending on how ticket sales go,” Eady said, “we would potentially give more.”

Players from both Alabama and Wake Forest are also scheduled to visit the Children’s of Alabama Hospital on Friday morning to meet with patients and their families.

To help with the donation, Knight Eady has two large sponsors on top of the ticket sales that were going well as of Wednesday afternoon. When tickets went on sale Sept. 12, seats ranged from $450 at courtside to $120 for the end zone. Two days before tipoff, only a few of the courtside options remained.

Knight Eady set all ticket prices, according to the contract between the company and UA obtained by AL.com through an open records request. Alabama will also receive $25,000 for its participation in the game and 100 complimentary tickets.

For those unable to attend in person, the game will air live on YouTube.

Most tickets for the Huntsville game appear to be sold out. However, there are a few options available: behind-the-basket seats for as much as $150 or upper-level seats for as little as $40.

All tickets to Auburn’s game in Greenville, S.C., are $15 apiece while seats for the FAU game on the Auburn campus are available through the school’s website. The tickets currently available range from $25 to $45.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.