New Proposed Rays Stadium Could Host Big East Bowl

[puc86]

No there is not, the Champs and Capital One both take place at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

[smazza]

not sure why you guys think 35,000 is too small for a lower-tier bowl. birmingham announced 32,000 fans last year and toronto was just under 27,000.

why bother

i hate people and ideas that small

35k is too small for area size of tampa bay

[USF Colby]

it seems viable with St. Pete's backing. However-- as a long term location it seems doomed to always be a so-so bowl. Now bear in mind that what we've all been talking about is getting better qualit bowls versus more BCS type schools. So while what you suffest might release us from the PJCB, it won't attract the better BCS schools to jump on board.

I'm all for St. Pete or Tampa getting another bowl game for the area. I just wonder if this plan is a little short sited

I think a BCS conference would agree to play us or at the very least we can get a champion from a non-BCS conference i'd think such as the Mountain West, those people would flock to Florida in a heart beat. However, even if it remained the same as the PapaJohns.com bowl it would be a much better alternative.

[JrGMan2004]

Hopefully the rays owners will foot the Bill if a new stadium is built.  I think the trop is perfect for the Rays.  I think having a bowl game there would be a waste,  only 35k seats thats way to small.

Rays owners said they would put up 145mm with the rest coming from St. Pete and the sale/development of the land around the old stadium.

And the cash they're putting up is only about a third of the total cost. Don't know how much the Trop's land is worth... but I figure the city would still have to pay at least 100mm and maybe up to 250mm...

[Greg Auman]

talked to the big east about this this morning, and posted the information on the blog. big east still feels the game would be viable, and doesn't have a problem with the smaller capacity.

blogs.tampabay.com/usf

[bull2saintleo]

talked to the big east about this this morning, and posted the information on the blog. big east still feels the game would be viable, and doesn't have a problem with the smaller capacity.

blogs.tampabay.com/usf

Thanks for the info Greg.

[USFFan]

I think this is an awesome idea.  

For the people who talk about playing "another" bowl game in Raymond James, remember that the Bucs are the primary tenants, and that the Outback folks are not going to just simply share the stadium.  We all know how hard it is to get the Bucs to agree to paint the field, how much do you think they'd be willing to bend over to allow it for TWO bowl games?  Plus, you're going to have to allow at least a week between games, which means the game would have to be around Christmas.  Remember how nobody liked the date of Birmingham because it was so close to Christmas?  

Here's how I think this could be done so that it would be a huge success.  Have a Big East and an ACC representative in this new bowl game, scheduled for December 30.  I know, people would prefer a different league, but you're not going to get as much interest from the Big XII or the Pac-10, and the Big Ten and SEC are already in the Outback.  Plus, we know the ACC is trying to get out of their bowls in Boise and San Francisco, so this would be a good opportunity.  

So, you've got a bowl on December 30 in St. Pete between the Big East - let's say the #4 seed, and the ACC - let's say the #5 seed, plus the Outback, which is the Big Ten #3 vs. the SEC #3 on January 1.  Now, you get the organizers to also organize a basketball tournament on December 29 and December 30 with representatives from each conference.  You can't guarantee that the same schools would be in both, but you might get lucky on occasion.  Let's say that you have Louisville, Wake Forest, Purdue and Georgia in this.  The basketball games could be in the afternoon, allowing time to get to the bowl game that night.  

Now, the bowl organizers could actually offer packages that would allow you to see two football games (if you wanted), plus basketball games where you'd see conference mates play against each other.  The new St. Pete stadium could be completely decorated for the new bowl game (it's going to be sitting empty in December anyway), and wouldn't detract from the Outback.  Hell, get Carrabas to be the title sponsor - they're owned by the same folks anyway.  Plus, since it's not one of the top seeded teams, they'd be thrilled to get 35K or 40K to the game.  If it's consistently sold out and a hot ticket, how is that a bad thing?  

USFFan

[fishinBULL]

I say they drop the Big 10 from the Outback bowl, and insert the Big East...

Big East vs SEC in the Outback would be freakin sweet!

[USFFan]

I say they drop the Big 10 from the Outback bowl, and insert the Big East...

Big East vs SEC in the Outback would be freakin sweet!

Yeah, that's going to happen...  :

Ask Steve Bien, who has a tie to this bowl - the Outback isn't giving up either conference tie in.  The Big Ten team regularly brings >> 10,000 fans, and most make a mini-vacation out of it because, well, wouldn't you like an excuse to get out of the frozen midwest for a week?  A shot at Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin most years is going to be hard to set aside for a shot at UConn, Cincinnati and Syracuse.

USFFan

[RespectaBULL]

So, you've got a bowl on December 30 in St. Pete between the Big East - let's say the #4 seed, and the ACC - let's say the #5 seed, plus the Outback, which is the Big Ten #3 vs. the SEC #3 on January 1.  Now, you get the organizers to also organize a basketball tournament on December 29 and December 30 with representatives from each conference.  You can't guarantee that the same schools would be in both, but you might get lucky on occasion.  Let's say that you have Louisville, Wake Forest, Purdue and Georgia in this.  The basketball games could be in the afternoon, allowing time to get to the bowl game that night. 

Now, the bowl organizers could actually offer packages that would allow you to see two football games (if you wanted), plus basketball games where you'd see conference mates play against each other.  The new St. Pete stadium could be completely decorated for the new bowl game (it's going to be sitting empty in December anyway), and wouldn't detract from the Outback.  Hell, get Carrabas to be the title sponsor - they're owned by the same folks anyway.  Plus, since it's not one of the top seeded teams, they'd be thrilled to get 35K or 40K to the game.  If it's consistently sold out and a hot ticket, how is that a bad thing? 

USFFan

I like this post idea a lot.