Sun Belt Looking For 2nd Bowl Tie-in

MeanGreen61 · June 1, 2008

The Sun Belt is the only FBS (formerly Division I-A) conference not to have multiple guaranteed bowl spots.

This year will be the eighth season the Sun Belt has been limited to only one bowl tie-in, the New Orleans Bowl. But recent bowl-eligible teams not playing in the postseason has raised frustrations.

Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters said it will be at least one more year before the league can enter the season with two bowl tie-ins.

"Those bowls get locked in by April 1, so we have between now and next April 1 to get something done," Waters said.

Article

http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../806010354/1010

stebo · June 1, 2008

The rest of that article is probably the most important. This is a new problem for the Belt, we haven't even had a team to consistently fill a second bowl bid until recently. We all want the Belt to grow and have bragging right of a second bowl game but it was way too much of a gamble in the past to put the money up. With the two new bowls added, we could probably get a tie in with a bowl in Boise or San Fran, but most likely a regional bowl will have a space open and we would end up sending a team like Troy to Boise when they could be playing in the Motor City Bowl like MTSU did. That does nothing for the conferences' reputation, because really - none of our teams are going to travel any fans to Boise under any circumstance.

NT80 · June 1, 2008

Fan participation and travel is the biggest hurdle in securing a second spot for the SBC. It will have to be located somewhere central to the SBC footprint. I imagine either Nashville, Mobile, Shreveport, or Memphis would be top considerations. Since all of those are outdoor locations, there will also be no assurance that weather will not be a factor.

June 2, 2008

It is too bad we can't get locked into the Ft Worth bowl. TCU vs UNT in Ft Worth every year would draw pretty well.

Arkstfan · June 2, 2008

Money is a big factor.

A bowl game that would take an SEC or Big XII for the promise to buy 7,500 tickets will ask the Sun Belt to buy 7,500 tickets AND pay a $500,000 (or more) "marketing fee".

The Liberty used to be MWC 1 vs. CUSA 1. The MWC left because they had to buy 10,000 tickets at $42 each and pay a marketing fee reported to be $750,000. If the MWC sold no tickets their pay out was less than $50,000. If they sold all their tickets they still only added $420,000 to that total on what was announced to be a payout well over $1 million. The SEC sends like #8 and only has to promise to buy 10,000 or 12,000 tickets.