INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee this week reviewed 35 applications and licensed 34 bowl games for the 2008-09 season.
Existing bowls that have been licensed for 2008-09 include: Allstate Sugar, AT&T Cotton, AutoZone Liberty, BCS National Championship, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces, Brut Sun, Capital One, Champs Sports, Chick-fil-A, Emerald, Fed Ex Orange, Gaylord Hotels Music City, GMAC, Roady’s Humanitarian, Insight, International, Konica Minolta Gator, Meineke Car Care, Motor City, New Mexico, Outback, Pacific Life Holiday, Papajohns.com, PetroSun Independence, Pioneer Las Vegas, R+L Carriers New Orleans, Rose, San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia, Sheraton Hawaii, Texas, Tostitos Fiesta and Valero Alamo.
Licenses were also granted to two new bowl games. The new bowl games for 2008-09 will be the Congressional Bowl in Washington, D.C. and the St. Petersburg Bowl in St. Petersburg, Florida. The third request for the Rocky Mountain Bowl in Salt Lake City was not licensed this year.
The subcommittee based the total number of bowls on historical data regarding the number of teams that are typically bowl eligible and the licensing criteria used each year to assess the qualifications of the bowl candidates.
“The subcommittee continues to be challenged to provide quality experiences for our student-athletes while balancing that with the number of bowl-eligible teams. The subcommittee spent a great deal of time reviewing the historical data of bowl eligible teams and feels there is adequate opportunity to fill all bowl positions.” said Richard Giannini, director of athletics at the University of Southern Mississippi and chair of the NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee.
“The addition of two new bowl games will only provide more quality experiences for the student-athletes, institutions and fans,” Giannini said.
“The subcommittee is also pleased to license all 32 bowls that took place last year,” continued Giannini. “It shows the good work and management these bowl organizers have done to create a positive experience for the student-athletes.”
As part of its meeting in Weston, Florida, the subcommittee also reviewed bowl revenues and distributions from the 2007-08 postseason.
In reviewing the 2007-08 bowl season, the subcommittee said that approximately $222 million in bowl revenue was distributed to participating teams and conferences, and about 1.63 million fans attended the bowl games. Approximately 6,000 student-athletes experienced the postseason football bowl games.
The Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee is made up of members of the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet. The Cabinet is made up of representatives from each Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FBS) conference.
While the NCAA does not administer or operate bowl games, there is a need for NCAA authorization and regulation to protect student-athlete safety and well-being, thus creating a need for a postseason bowl licensing process. Bowls regularly benefit sponsoring communities, participating member schools and conferences and student-athletes and must be regulated to preserve these benefits.
