Why wasn't Birmingham Bowl not put in UCF/Orlando? And why wasn't St. Pete Bowl put after Xmas? Seems like doing that would make for two better situations for these two bowls.

Tallgrass Wrote:Why wasn't Birmingham Bowl not put in UCF/Orlando? And why wasn't St. Pete Bowl put after Xmas? Seems like doing that would make for two better situations for these two bowls.

1) Birmingham/Papa Johns Bowl was placed at Legion Field as there was only 1 viable stadium to use in Orlando at that time (Citrus Bowl) and the Florida Citrus Sports Association already was running two bowls games there being the Champs Sports Bowl and the Capital One Bowl Game.

Obviously now with UCF's 45,300 seat Brighthouse Network Stadium completed and other associations (not Florida Citrus Sports) looking to run their OWN Bowl Game...that location might be used at some time in the future to host a bowl game.

2) ESPN needs programming PRIOR to Christmas...and there are more open dates/time slots PRE-Christmas than POST-Christmas/New Year's Week.

Believe the St Pete Bowl will be "owned" by ESPN...so that game will be played when THEY (ESPN) want it to be played.

Now...some pre-Christmas Bowl Games have been moved to AFTER Christmas with increased pay-off and increased attendance like Champs Sports Bowl...even the Capital One/Citrus Bowl/Tangerine Bowl use to be a pre-Christmas game at one-time.

Nicely said KnightLight.

I agree with KL on this one. Birmingham is a logical place for a bowl.. its just too bad the stadium isn't better. I don't know that a 3rd bowl in orlando makes sense to be honest. It would be good for the players, but how many locals will go to it?? Three is a lot in one town. St pete as a pre christmas makes sense.. you have pro ball being played, and the other bowl..on the 1st. It fits a need for ESPN and doesnt cram so much into a lil time frame.

If Birmingham builds conventation center & UAB uses it for FB. I think Bir can be solid bowl, Cin & USM did good job last yr. Bir can draw from C-USA, SB, BE, ACC, SEC & MAC, that's alot of options.

Some good points shared above.

Regarding if UCF/Orlando hosting three bowls...if UCF/Orlando has that capacity to do that....in my book, UCF/Orlando has already proved they can and has proved it twice.....the UCF/Tulsa CUSA Championship game was/is reality, just like a bowl game if not better....and UCF/Orlando had 52,000 fans in the stadium three years ago and UCF sold out is stadium last season. IMO, UCF fans and Orlando would support a third bowl without question.

Regarding what ESPN wants and dictates, those days are over with. ESPN is not the only player in town anymore. Therefore, I would love to see BE establish a second POSTXMAS bowl in St. Pete and leave the current St. Pete PreXmas Bowl with BE/CUSA alone. That would give BE three Florida bowls (Gator, St and two St. Pete's). Tell ESPN thanks but no thanks.

I would like to see CUSA put a bowl on UCF's beautiful campus and stadium, either by establishing a new bowl or moving Birmingham Bowl to UCF/Orlando. If ESPN refuses to cooperate, then go to another network.

well if the NCAA approves the 3 new bowls.. you wont see many added without others dropped. 35 is very close to the max u can have without losing teams involved.

The Papa John's Bowl will be fine in Birmingham when they get the new convention center and football stadium built. I do not know if three bowls, even in different stadiums, is a good idea for any city. There are also a lot of NIMBY activists who would do everything possible to sabotage any plans for a bowl at UCF. It was hasslesome enough for the school to get their stadium built with those people trying to wreak all kinds of political havoc in Orlando.

Tallgrass Wrote:Some good points shared above.

Regarding if UCF/Orlando hosting three bowls...if UCF/Orlando has that capacity to do that....in my book, UCF/Orlando has already proved they can and has proved it twice.....the UCF/Tulsa CUSA Championship game was/is reality, just like a bowl game if not better....and UCF/Orlando had 52,000 fans in the stadium three years ago and UCF sold out is stadium last season. IMO, UCF fans and Orlando would support a third bowl without question.

Regarding what ESPN wants and dictates, those days are over with. ESPN is not the only player in town anymore. Therefore, I would love to see BE establish a second POSTXMAS bowl in St. Pete and leave the current St. Pete PreXmas Bowl with BE/CUSA alone. That would give BE three Florida bowls (Gator, St and two St. Pete's). Tell ESPN thanks but no thanks.

I would like to see CUSA put a bowl on UCF's beautiful campus and stadium, either by establishing a new bowl or moving Birmingham Bowl to UCF/Orlando. If ESPN refuses to cooperate, then go to another network.

1) For ESPN run/owned pre-Christmas bowl games...a game only needs approx 25,000-30,000 or so in attendance to be successful as most of the $$$ comes from ESPN and the title Sponsor.

2) ESPN is STILL the Bowl Machine...as they DOMINATE the Bowl Landscape and their programmers have stated publicly that they want MORE bowl games...as bowl games...regardless who is playing, when or where...make $$$$$ for ESPN.

With the explosion of GAMBLING...and when there is only 1 football game on say Dec 21st...folks will be betting on that game (mostly males...age 21-54), which is the exact same target market of most of ESPN's TV sponsors.

ESPN Networks carried 21 Bowl Games last year...and they still want MORE!

ESPN Networks had EIGHT Bowl Games with HIGHER TV Ratings vs BOTH of the Bowl Games on CBS.

ESPN had 3 Bowl Games (Liberty, Holiday, Chick-Fil-A) that had higher TV Ratings than the Cotton Bowl on FOX on January 1.

All the other ESPN Bowl Games were PROFITABLE for the network...because of their targeted audience.

If you want to start up a NEW BOWL GAME...and you want TV COVERAGE...you call up ESPN first and foremost.

Here's a repost of the article from the NJ paper just so that everyone that reads the thread is up to date (my apologies for posting this again).

Other notes:
New St. Pete Bowl would bolster Big East's lineup
by by Tom Luicci/Star-Ledger staff
Monday March 31, 2008, 5:45 PM

The Big East should know by the end of April whether it has another football bowl game to add to its lineup, with the St. Petersburg Bowl -- to be run by ESPN and the league -- having submitted a proposal to the NCAA bowl certifying committee to start this season.
If approved, the game will be played Dec. 21 at Tropicana Field and will have a Big East team playing one from Conference-USA.
It immediately raises two questions:
1 -- What happens to the new bowl game if the eight-team Big East can't fill what would then be seven bowl slots?

2 -- How does the league's role as a bowl partner in the game affect the Big East's stated desire to upgrade its bowl affiliation when the current contracts run out in two years?
League officials won't discuss the St. Petersburg Bowl yet because he hasn't been approved. But the league desperately wants this new bowl to succeed. With ESPN having a vested interest in the game -- it would be the sixth one run by the network and would be shown on either ESPN or ESPN2 -- it has a real chance to make it. The Big East wants a full-fledged bowl tie-in with a game in Florida. The St. Petersburg Bowl gives the league just that.
So let's address the two pressing issues.
The Big East will have tie-ins this year with the BCS, Gator or Sun, Meineke, Texas, International, Papajohns.com and, possibly St. Petersburg Bowl.
If the league can't qualify seven bowl teams, the new game won't take the hit. The Big East will have a financial stake in the St. Petersburg bowl as a partner. So either the Texas, Papajohns.com or International Bowl will be the game that the league opens up to other conferences. With ESPN also running the Papajohns.com and International bowls, it makes it a little easier to work a deal with other leagues for those games if the Big East qualifies only six teams.
The future?
The Big East's current bowl deals are up in two years.
If the league has its way when negotiations start on new deals, it would like to continue with tie-ins to the BCS, Gator and Meinke, then add the St. Petersburg bowl and two others. The Sun Bowl, played in El Paso, has geographical issues, so it could get dropped from the lineup.
The Big East also wants to strengthen its affialiation with the Gator Bowl to position that game as No. 2 in its lineup. The partnership with the Big 12 (the Big East and Big 12 alternate sending teams there) hasn't been the success Gator Bowl folks had hoped. Last year, Texas Tech brought just 5,000 people to the game.
So the league wants to lock that game up for itself, although Notre Dame would still be part of the deal. Instead of the Irish having a shot two out of every four years to play in the Gator Bowl in place of a Big East team, however, the league would like to modify that to once every four years.
Ultimately, the Big East wants to keep six bowl tie-ins, and the St. Petersburg Bowl would be one of the staples in the lineup. There's even speculation that the game will be moved in 2012 if the Tampa Devil Rays get a new outdoor stadium.
Are there too many bowls? No question. If the bowl certifying committee approves the new Congressional Bowl in Washington as well (that will be an ACC-military academy matchup), it will mean 34 bowl games next year. So more than half the country will have a postseason game to play in.
But the Big East needs a stronger bowl presence in Florida. Securing the Gator Bowl would be a boost. Having another in the St. Pete-Tampa area would be a strong addition. The Big East-ESPN partnership in the St. Petersburg Bowl would give the new game a real chance to succeed

Thanks for posting the update Hoq.

Cold pizza and warm soda to be served in Birmingham for at least two more years...besides horrible concessions and parking in a ghetto this is a great bowl

PapaJohn's to Stay in Bama for 2 More Years

My thoughts:

Birmingham needs a new stadium and in a new neighborhood. We all know Legion Field is falling apart and the area by the stadium is not the safest neigborhood. Location wise Birmingham is actually very good for UL, Pitt, WV and Cinci as you can reach it in a long day's drive (6 to 11.5 hours). It falls along my I-85/95 bowl corridor concept.

If something isn't done within two years the Big East needs to look for another location...they have talked about for years building a Dome stadium in Birmingham in an entertainment district. If they get a committment to for a new stadium this will be a decent pre XMas bowl. In a new stadium I could see if moving to post XMas if ESPN allows. Fine with it before XMas as a minimum payer it will be good for Big East #5 or #6 down the road vs CUSA.

The Big East will probably leave the Papa John's Bowl at some point anyway, regardless of what Birmingham does about its stadium situation, once the game establishes a solid foundation. We are going to have better opportunities available and the league will need to jump on them. Alabama is not exactly a recruiting or marketing hotbed for the Big East, no offense to the good folks down there, but our current participation in the Papa John's Bowl is simply a result of the fact that we had to take whatever bowls we could get in 2006. That will not be the case in 2010 so I strongly advise people not to get too attached to this game.

(1) Three bowls in one city would probably be a very bad idea

(2) The people of Birmingham have been passionate college football fans for several generations

Gray Avenger Wrote:(2) The people of Birmingham have been passionate college football fans for several generations

Yes...Bama and Auburn fans are very passionate about THEIR team...but most of them do not turn out to see the REAL home team play (UAB) or even the Bowl Game played in their town.

There is a VERY good reason why the Papa John's Bowl puts fans from both visiting teams on the smaller "tv" side of the stadium (gets most of the air time)...as the "home" side (underneath the press box), attendance isn't so hot from the locals.