NCAA approves St. Petersburg Bowl

The St. Petersburg Bowl is officially part of college football's bowl lineup.

The new bowl -- to debut at Tropicana Field between Dec. 20-23 this season -- was approved by an NCAA subcommittee Wednesday afternoon in South Florida and will pit teams from the Big East and Conference USA. ESPN will own and operate the game, as it does with five other current bowls.

"The presentation went very well and was well-received by the committee," said Pete Derzis, general manager and senior vice president for ESPN Regional. "St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker was part of our delegation here, as was D.T. Minich from the St. Petersburg/Clearwater (Convention and Visitors Bureau) and Rob Higgins (from Tampa Bay Sports Commission). They all made tremendous contributions to help make this happen."

An important new wrinkle on the Big East side of this: Starting in 2008, the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., which had a tie-in with Conference USA, will now feature a Southeastern Conference team against a Big East representative, a significant upgrade. It also will move from a pre-Christmas slot to Dec. 29, a date that reflects the bowl's greater relevance.

The St. Petersburg Bowl joins a lineup of 32 bowls returning from last season; the NCAA also approved a "Congressional Bowl" in Washington, D.C., which will feature Navy and an ACC opponent. A proposed "Rocky Mountain Bowl" in Salt Lake City was not approved. Last year there were seven NCAA teams that were bowl eligible but didn't have a bowl to play in, and organizers feel the location and conference affiliations can make this bowl a viable and successful event.

Fans interested in signing up on a list for tickets for this year's game (at $30 each) can call (800) 325-2910.

Comments

[soman]

Well USF did finish a bad year on a good note beating Memphis 41-14.
But this is a terrible place to see a football game. With only one side line many seats are in terrible locations that are down too low and then you have nosebleed seats that are not close to the edge of the field like Ray Jam.
I think this bowl will die a quick death.

[Bill]

How about naming it the Homeless Bowl, or the Annex Land That the Citizens Don't Want Bowl, or City Goverment Does What It Wants Bowl, or My High Property Taxes Are Paying For This Bowl.

[Pat Cotter]

Well... After this weeks performance... USF Football would be lucky to play at the St. Petersburg Bowl!

[Rickster in Gulfport]

Sorry, didn't see that they had already played High School games there.

Does anyone know how deep the space beyond the endzones where?

You know what I mean, is there any clearance for the running fade pass, or do you have to slow down to keep from hitting the wall (like Orlando's Arena for Predator's games, they have rounded the end zone corners off, while here you can catch it and keep running into the tunnel)?

TIA.

[Rickster in Gulfport]

Re: Greg, about your question as to whether they had ever played a football game at the dome.

Very Good Question.

They played Arena Ball for years there.

I bet it would be a tight squeeze on the end zones, no extra room to run. They may have to move some seats out of the way. The Stadium is very configurable, and I still don't see what is so wrong with it (aside from the low catwalks which make fubared ground rules).

Definitely wouldn't be able to field a CFL game.

[Anthony]

When are they going to add a Pac-10 vs. SEC bowl game?

[G.A.]

There's nothing up in the air. If the Rays move, the bowl goes with them to the new stadium. They aren't going to keep the Trop for one bowl game a year. The new stadium's funding is contingent upon sale of the land on which the Trop and its parking lots are located. I think I will repeat this a lot between now and December.

And yes, they've played high school football games in the Trop.

[Greg]

Have they ever played a football game at the Trop? Even if they have, I can't really imagine one being played there. The weather is usually perfect around that time so it's kind of a shame it won't be played outside. Plus, what are they going to do if the Rays build the new stadium? Keep the Trop just for the bowl? Only play the bowl here until the Trop is gone? There's still a lot up in the air right now.

[Ken]

Half a month does not a season, much less a decade make. They have been terrible since the beginning, and they'll never attract enough fans being located in Pinellas County/St. Pete.

[EWAD]

No downside... a $30 ticket price, very fan friendly.
UCF and USF might play there, great.
But if not fans from other areas will want to go to get out of the cold.
Sounds great to me.

[Al]

I've heard the Herb Kohler wants to become the major sponsor of the St Pete Bowl.

"The Kolher Toilet Bowl" has a nice ring to it and would be fitting for a game between an also ran from BEeast and a CUSA loser.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

You know the rays have won 8 of their last 10.

im about to get off the couch and go to a game. You win, I'll go.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

You know the Rays aren't the worst team in baseball.
They are a game back of the Red Sox's for first place in the AL East.

I thought the second coming would arrive before the D-rays finished april above 500 and 1 game out of first.

[Ed]

Why did most of you posters even bother to post. This game is going to bring 40,000 people to our area to spend their hard earned money in an under utilized facility. It does not matter who plays in the game. This is another reason to keep the current stadium. Give the taxpayer a break. Imagine if the Rays were a quality team and could sell out without the help of the visiting team. The new proposed stadium will not support a College football bowl game. Not enough seats. Any local who is not in favor of this go back to wherever you came from. They must need your crappy attitude.

[Ken]

Why the citizens of St. Pete and Pinellas County would want to go from having two public pieces of land to one just to build a better stadium for the worst team in MLB, which can't possible improve enough to be competitive and which will never attract a decent number of fans is beyond me.

I'll go to the new bowl game only if USF is in it, and that will be a big disappointment.

The Pizza Bowl is now much more attractive--now, can it be moved away from Birmingham, which, as far as I could tell when we were there two years ago, had zero interest in having a bowl game (decidedly unlike the Muffler Bowl's city or El Paso).

[Kenneth]

You people are such cynics - too much college football is like saying a woman's chest is too large, or my steak is too tender. I'm a fan of anything that brings college football closer to where I live - good work whoever landed this!

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Greg Auman just made "Don" look stupid.

ha

[Bullchip]

What else do you want to know? I've got an intriguing lead on a potential addition to the football roster and could have something up on that as early as this afternoon.

Well???????

[G.A.]

Don, that makes no sense. The funding on the new stadium is dependent on selling the land on which Tropicana is built. So you hold off on $100-million-plus from that land just so an otherwise-unused building can play host to a single bowl game once a year, rather than have that game play in the $450-million stadium on the water? Seriously now ... If the bowl organizers say it'll fit in the new stadium, it'll fit there. Sorry to burst any bubbles there ...

[Mike]

Dave W put it right. More football is better. Point blank. I'm excited to go to the game too. And if you think there are too many bowl games, start gambling on them. Then you'll never want it to end. When ESPN plays "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" during bowl week every year, it's for us degenerates. Central Michigan vs. Troy? Sign it up!

[Rickster in Gulfport]

There is the Puppy Bowl, which airs on Animal Planet 3 hours leading into the SuperBowl.

I think this is a great idea, it will bring more people to the area, bring more free advertising and show the city in yet another favorable light.

December in St Pete is not the worst torture in the world.

There were several teams last year, noted in the story, that were bowl eligible but had no bowl to go to.

I bet it won't be insignificant to the players that go.

This might just push the outdoor stadium into the bay, though.
10 year deal means Tropicana Fieldhas to still be there, unless they plan on playing in a parking lot.

I'd take this and baseball where it is, and lets save our money for a rainy day - then go to a ballgame indoors!!

[Don in St. Pete]

Sorry to burst your bubble but the football field would probably not fit into the downtown stadium concept. In addition I read the Mayor Baker is looking to sign a 10 year contract to hold it at Tropicana Field.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

Real brilliant talk today from the Big East Commish.

Guy stood up in the commish meeting today in South Florida and railed against a playoff for college football. THe conference commishes had a chance to approve a 4 team playoff for the BCS and they all voted it down. What a joke.

[Dave W]

And on the issue of too many bowls: I don't know about you guys, but I like watching football. I don't care what the name is and I don't care who is in it. I just want to watch some football. If you don't, then the simplest solution is to not turn your TV on. The bowls are just exhibitions anyway and most aren't supposed to mean anything other than its a good way to make money (and last time I checked, making money is the main reason we invest so much in a football program).

[Dave W]

Wow. The Pizza Bowl just got good. All of a sudden, our BCS game, the Gator/Sun, the Tire, and the Pizza games each give us legit opponents. The International and St. Pete games give us two almost automatic wins. The BEAST gets better...

However, I don't think (and I sincerely hope) that we will be playing there in the next two seasons. I think we'll finish in the top-3 this season.

[JOhn]

Eric, I hope USF has a MUCH bigger bowl game to attend this year.

[Dr. Phil]

What you're seeing here is great for the self-esteem of the players involved. Many of today's social ills can be cured by more college football players having a chance to play in bowl games.

[Baracudor]

Yea, I've felt that there are to many different bowls back when the Outback Bowl started. Hey, Is there a Cereal Bowl yet? Or how bout' a Doggie Bowl? I might be on to something. How could I get a chance at helping name a college bowl?

All kidding aside, I guess this is just another college bowl that I won't be watching!

[Silence Dogood]

Maybe they can paint the benches green....

[Bryan]

There are already too many insignificant bowls and this will be added to that list. Having said that, they are going to add more anyway I'm glad one of them will be here for many reasons, most obvious. It will indeed be interesting to see what happens if the proposed downtown ball park gains approval.

[EW]

This serves a need for the Big East to play in a better Bowl City.
Now the league has a permanant Florida based game.
Once the Rays (hopefully) build a new stadium the game will be played there.
Once that happens we might see a more attractive opponent for the BE team.

[DELdaBULL]

USF has bigger plans than the SPB.

[Phil]

What happens when they tear down the stadium for the new outdoor field? Will it then be called the "Homeless Bowl"?

[Jeff]

How many more bowl games do we have to suffer through? I can't tell you how boring the majority of them really are? Enough with all the stupid bowls. Until they get a playoff system, which was just rejected, there will truly be no national champion.

[xr4ti_007]

UConn v. Memphis...but in football not basketball.

[bowledover]

Enough with the bowl games. There are far too many to begin with. Plus, how big of a demand will there be to see the #6 teams (just a guess) in each conference go head to head...before Christmas? Ranks right up there with the International Bowl.

I certainly hope that the USF Bulls aspire for a bowl berth more prestigious than the St. Pete Bowl!

[Brain]

Yeah, there's not much chance USF will slip that far down the Big East to attend this bowl. Though I plan on attending either way!

[Get_off_my_lawn]

I think they should rename this the "Blue Hair/Grey Hair Bowl" to reflect St Pete accurately....atleast until someone buys the rights to the bowl name....Tech Data Bowl? Jabil Circuit Bowl? The Winghouse Bowl? Amscot Bowl?

[Eric62]

You read it here first: UCF vs. USF will open this bowl to huge crowds, then its downhill from there.