New bowl in Nassau and South Florida. C-USA involved...

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...ources-say

There have been several discussions on here about a bowl in the Caribbean. Seems like someone heard us!

This bowl could work its way up to being a major player. The 15k capacity is low, even for CUSA teams. Who knows where they might be in a decade??

(08-21-2013 07:22 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  There have been several discussions on here about a bowl in the Caribbean. Seems like someone heard us!

This bowl could work its way up to being a major player. The 15k capacity is low, even for CUSA teams. Who knows where they might be in a decade??

Defunct.

(08-21-2013 07:22 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  There have been several discussions on here about a bowl in the Caribbean. Seems like someone heard us!

This bowl could work its way up to being a major player. The 15k capacity is low, even for CUSA teams. Who knows where they might be in a decade??

Well, the stadium was left to be expanded up to 30k so perhaps with a bowl game played there will give more demand for expansion. The other sports complex they are developing is going to be help the Bahamas become a sports venue player in the future for the Caribbean.

http://www.nsa-bahamas.com/

15K? That's not a bowl game, that's a scrimmage.

(08-21-2013 08:38 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  15K? That's not a bowl game, that's a scrimmage.

They can easily bring in some temp seating and make 20-25K if the demand is there.

(08-21-2013 08:38 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  15K? That's not a bowl game, that's a scrimmage.

so half of the Mac games are scrimmage's

How the hell will each school force through that many passports in time for all of their players and staff?

(08-21-2013 08:38 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  15K? That's not a bowl game, that's a scrimmage.

No need to have a big stadium...everyone has to fly or boat in from the US. It sounds neat...but I see yearly Passport drama.

(08-21-2013 12:22 PM)GaSouthern Wrote:  How the hell will each school force through that many passports in time for all of their players and staff?

Have no idea. And I don't think many will spend the money and get the passports ahead of time so they can go.

Depending on the conferences' bowl arrangements, C-USA could say to Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, and Western Kentucky (for example) before the season that one of those teams will go to the Bahama Bowl if not selected for the CFP or does not win the conference. The next year it could be three different teams. This would allow for more time on passports.

(08-21-2013 08:12 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  Depending on the conferences' bowl arrangements, C-USA could say to Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, and Western Kentucky (for example) before the season that one of those teams will go to the Bahama Bowl if not selected for the CFP or does not win the conference. The next year it could be three different teams. This would allow for more time on passports.

It would be harder to pull of if you take conference champions in this bowl game but yes it makes sense to plan ahead.

Another option is for each MAC and CUSA team to run its roster through the passport application process for good measure just in case prior to the start of the season. It doesn't take that much effort and college kids are traveling abroad all the time now anyways.

How do they do thing with college basketball teams that take a European tour? That is a fairly common practice.

There will be no spotlight for these games as very few people will be in the stadium and only a few more will watch on TV

I don't know how the process works, but could some of the players get a temporary visa or something to the other country? Some of them probably have passports anyways...

(08-21-2013 08:54 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  I don't know how the process works, but could some of the players get a temporary visa or something to the other country? Some of them probably have passports anyways...

Players will have to have passports. There will be no exceptions because this is a US Customs requirement to depart and enter the US and the same is true for the Bahamas. Passport applications can and almost certainly will be expedited for teams playing in the bowl. You just have to pay an fee to expedite the application. Roughly 35% of US citizens (and likely a far lower percentage of FBS football players) have passports which is why they're going to end up doing expedited applications. They should have enough time between being selected for the bowl and the departure date to complete the expedited passport process.

A visa is an additional document that is not required for US citizens to enter the Bahamas as a tourist which is how the players will enter the country.

I was in the Bahamas this past winter. It was a pleasant stay. Only my second time there but had a great time on both occasions. This bowl should be interesting to see how it comes together.

IMO its a huge recruiting selling point to say CUSA has tie-ins to Hawaii and Bahamas.

(08-22-2013 12:25 AM)SApuro Wrote:  I was in the Bahamas this past winter. It was a pleasant stay. Only my second time there but had a great time on both occasions. This bowl should be interesting to see how it comes together.

IMO its a huge recruiting selling point to say CUSA has tie-ins to Hawaii and Bahamas.

Wonder what locals feel and if they will support this

The Bahama bowl may well be defunct in a couple of years. The main thing it has going for it is the proximity to the US population. Nassau to Miami is ~175 miles. Honolulu to Los Angeles is ~2500 miles. In face, Nassau is closer to LA than Honolulu!

I don't see it surviving as a CUSA bowl. To attract bigger conferences they will need to increase the payout and increase the stadium capacity. Temporary seats are probably not an option. You can't put them on a truck and drive them there. You need a ship which typically takes several months work out.

I don't think passports will be an issue. The Bahamas routinely handles tourists to/from the US. Not all of them have passports. I have a friend that takes a cruise every year. His wife travels on a ship-issued ID card. Once the ship is back in the US they walk straight off.

(08-22-2013 08:38 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  The Bahama bowl may well be defunct in a couple of years. The main thing it has going for it is the proximity to the US population. Nassau to Miami is ~175 miles. Honolulu to Los Angeles is ~2500 miles. In face, Nassau is closer to LA than Honolulu!

I don't see it surviving as a CUSA bowl. To attract bigger conferences they will need to increase the payout and increase the stadium capacity. Temporary seats are probably not an option. You can't put them on a truck and drive them there. You need a ship which typically takes several months work out.

I don't think passports will be an issue. The Bahamas routinely handles tourists to/from the US. Not all of them have passports. I have a friend that takes a cruise every year. His wife travels on a ship-issued ID card. Once the ship is back in the US they walk straight off.

You can enter the Bahamas without documentation but you cannot legally re-enter the US without a passport or passport card.

There is "tiny exception"

Sea Travel: U.S. citizens traveling to The Bahamas by sea on private watercraft or most commercial vessels must have a valid passport. Those traveling by sea on an officially-designated “closed-loop cruise”, meaning that the port of entry is the same port as the port of re-entry upon return to the U.S., may enter using a passport, passport card, or other Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) compliant document, however, it is prudent to obtain a passport before travel in case of an unforeseen emergency that requires a cruise passenger to disembark and return by air. (Please verify with your cruise line if your intended cruise is designated a closed-loop cruise.)

Per the chart at the State Department you can use a passport card in lieu of a passport for a closed loop cruise. It's cheap than a passport but it means you have to take a boat.

They should resurrect the Bacardi bowl and play it in San Juan PR. Baseball stadium that seats 18,000, no passport issues.