BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — Much like Hallmark created Grandparent's Day and Secretary's Day in an effort to sell cards, ESPN and FAU today announced the creation of the “Boca Raton Bowl” to be held, surprise, right here in Boca Raton.
FAU Athletic Director Pat Chun, perhaps unintentionally, seems to take the Hallmark analogy a step further with the concession that this is a Boca-infomercial, telling our friends at FAUOwlAcces.com:
“It's going to be a three-and-a-half hour infomercial pre-Christmas every year showcasing this beautiful campus, this beautiful stadium, this beautiful region. You can't buy that type of advertising.
The “Boca Raton Bowl,” according to Boca Raton Mayor Susan Whelchel, has the potential to bring revenue to the region.
“I would say we are in excess of $5 to $6 million dollars if not more by the time he beds and the heads come in and the restaurants are full and the people come down from the north where it is raining and snowing and they want to stay longer than they thought they might. I think it is an economic and financial win.
I wasn't surprised when this came along. I didn't know what year it was going to happen. I just always thought it would.”
Here is the official announcement from FAU.
ESPN Regional Television, a subsidiary of ESPN, announced the creation of the Boca Raton Bowl in a six-year agreement beginning in 2014. The pre-Christmas bowl game will be affiliated with the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference with each conference participating an expected four times during the six-year span.
The bowl game will be played at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla., on the campus of Florida Atlantic University and nationally televised on ESPN or ESPN2. The open-air stadium opened in 2011 and seats just under 30,000 fans.
The local sales of the bowl game will be handled by ESPN West Palm, which is the FAU radio broadcast partner.
Quotes “We are pleased to be able to bring post season college football to the Boca Raton area and host institutions from the MAC, American and C-USA,” said Pete Derzis, Senior Vice President & GM, ESPN Regional Television. The many amenities of this area will make this a wonderful experience for the participating teams, their fans and administrators.”
“Our community is excited to serve as hosts for the Boca Raton Bowl,” said Patrick Chun, director of athletics, Florida Atlantic University. “The national exposure associated with ESPN will be beneficial to our region, county, city and university on many levels. We are thankful to all of our local government officials and community leaders for making this game a reality. We look forward to building one of the best bowl experiences in college football.”
“We are pleased to be a participant in the Boca Raton Bowl,” said Mike Aresco, commissioner, American Athletic Conference. “We look forward to rewarding a deserving American Athletic Conference team with a berth in this quality postseason game. In partnering with this bowl and its outstanding management, we provide another wonderful opportunity for our student-athletes, our schools and our conference to gain national exposure in a destination that is both extremely attractive and accessible to our schools and their fans.”
