New Proposed Rays Stadium Could Host Big East Bowl

[BrahmanBulliever]

That would be an awesome package USFFan good luck getting it to happen though.

[CousinRicky]

In the St Pete Times today, the photo on the front page of the Sports section shows a football field drawn very lightly on it.  So they are trying to show that it will, at the minimum, hold a football field.  Extra seats?  Anyones guess.

[bull2saintleo]

In the St Pete Times today, the photo on the front page of the Sports section shows a football field drawn very lightly on it.  So they are trying to show that it will, at the minimum, hold a football field.  Extra seats?  Anyones guess.

I am having trouble seeing what you are saying.  Can you see if the pic you are talking about is online and post it here?

[Qbanbull]

A bowl game in St. Pete doesn't thrill me.  :-\

[WoolyBully]

And remember sports fans, this whole thing is in the 'I gotta, gotta, gotta have it' stage right now.

When you're pitching an idea like this, the in thing to do is show that IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT BASEBALL.

It's about the community (since I couldn't say 'it's about the children')! Besides, Florida is tourist land. If

you were thinking of attending a - in my best Thurston Howell III voice - 'lower tier" - bowl, wouldn't

you rather be in beautiful Florida than in 'Hey...is that your truck' Alabama?

Marketing, boys and girls...it's what made this country great!

[PitBull]

it would look like this:

and that looks pretty cool to me!

[macphisto]

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!

The best shot for the Big East in Florida is getting a permanent spot in the Gator Bowl, not a shared one and/or replacing one of the conferences in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.  I think both of those are realistic possibilities along with adding another bowl.  Tranghese has said that the Big East wants six tie-ins due to last year with Pitt missing.  This year we'll only have five unless Louisville pulls off a stunning comeback, but I think a case can be made for having six.

I could see it going like this:

1. BCS

2. Gator Bowl - Big East versus ACC

3. Champ Sports - Big East versus Big Ten

4. Car Care Bowl - Big East versus ACC, it'd be nice to challenge someone else, but the ACC affiliation is not going to change for a Carolina bowl.

5. Texas Bowl - Big East versus Big 12, though it'll be hard getting CUSA out of there unless we invite Houston to join the Big East.  Their new president was at USF for years, so I'd imagine USF would put in a word for Houston should the BE decide to expand.

6. St. Petersburg Bowl - Big East versus SEC?  An example from this year would be something like Rutgers versus South Carolina, Alabama, or (maybe) Kentucky. 

I love the idea of a bowl in St. Pete, especially at this new stadium.  Capacity would depend largely on how much temporary seating they'd put in.  With so much time between the end of the baseball season and a bowl game, they'd have time to put together a large seating structure.  They could even lay anchors in the ground for such a structure, allowing for a much higher structure.  Much would depend on if they wanted to actually take it over the RF fence, but I could see them adding another 10,000 seats quite easily and possibly get it up to 50K. 

[Mr Irrelevant]

Newsflash! The world does not revolve around USF. They are not going to change the seating capacity just in case USF might get in. 35,000 seats would be plenty if this thing happens. I'm sure they will add some temporary seating just like in San Fran too so maybe like 40,000. You guys are getting way to caught up in insignificant facts like seating capacity. Facts are this would be an upgrade from Birmingham or Toronto. Florida has the best weather in the country around New Years. This game would bring in a lot more fans from visiting schools than the two locations mentioned above. I am sure they would be able to parlay this into a bowl matching up Big East team v and ACC or Big 12 team so thats a plus also. The ACC has some undesirable bowls( e.g. Boise, Emerald) and the Big 12 has no permanant presence in FL.  There are no negatives about this. I can't believe any of you guys would complain. I guess you just like it when the Big East racks up bowl wins playing against inferior competition C-USA and the MAC in bowl games that no casual fan would ever watch so you can brag about how good your bowl record is. BTW there are currently bowls in 2 MLB stadiums and the seem to be working great.

[bull2saintleo]

Newsflash! The world does not revolve around USF. They are not going to change the seating capacity just in case USF might get in. 35,000 seats would be plenty if this thing happens. I'm sure they will add some temporary seating just like in San Fran too so maybe like 40,000. You guys are getting way to caught up in insignificant facts like seating capacity. Facts are this would be an upgrade from Birmingham or Toronto. Florida has the best weather in the country around New Years. This game would bring in a lot more fans from visiting schools than the two locations mentioned above. I am sure they would be able to parlay this into a bowl matching up Big East team v and ACC or Big 12 team so thats a plus also. The ACC has some undesirable bowls( e.g. Boise, Emerald) and the Big 12 has no permanant presence in FL.  There are no negatives about this. I can't believe any of you guys would complain. I guess you just like it when the Big East racks up bowl wins playing against inferior competition C-USA and the MAC in bowl games that no casual fan would ever watch so you can brag about how good your bowl record is. BTW there are currently bowls in 2 MLB stadiums and the seem to be working great.

Not to burst your bubble, but I think it's down to 1 MLB stadium (San Fran).  The Insight Bowl used to be in Arizona's Chase Field until the Cardinals new stadium opened.  Then the Insigh Bowl moved to Sun Devil Stadium, former home of the Fiesta Bowl.

[Rabbi Bull]

it would look like this:

and that looks pretty cool to me!

and both teams are on the same sideline.