Post by elp525 on Aug 19, 2009 3:55:12 GMT -5
August 18, 2009
Bowl will get Big East's No. 2 team, pay out $2.4 million-plus
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
The comparison might seem somewhat of a stretch, but new Big East commissioner John Marinatto went there anyway.
After touting his league's football performance over the past four years - including BCS bowl victories in three of those years and a 12-4 bowl record - Marinatto said that agreeing to a four-year deal with the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., was the next logical step.
"I'll tell you the same thing I told our athletic directors late [Monday] night when we finalized this deal,'' Marinatto said Tuesday afternoon. "It's like the Super Bowl commercial says, 'We're going to Disney World.' If Disney World is good enough for the Super Bowl winner, it's good enough for us.''
Ending a long relationship with the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., the Big East formally announced its arrangement to send its No. 2 team to the Champs Sports Bowl beginning in the 2010 season. The deal, like all agreements between conferences and bowls, is for four years.
The particulars:
The payout for the game will be $2.4 million plus incentives, according to Steve Hogan, the CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, which runs both the Champs Sports Bowl and the Citrus Bowl. That's roughly the same as the Gator Bowl paid its participants in recent years, but short of the $3 million the Gator is attempting to reach for its next four-year cycle.
The opponent is likely to be an Atlantic Coast Conference team, probably the No. 4 choice from that league (after the BCS, Chick-fil-A and Gator). But the Big Ten is still involved in negotiations, and Hogan said his group isn't prepared to finalize the Big East's opponent yet. The Big Ten's No. 4 or 5 choice now goes to the Champs Sports Bowl, but that's the team that will probably jump into the vacated Gator Bowl position.
Notre Dame is again involved in the agreement, just as it was with the Gator/Sun Bowl hybrid agreement that was in place the past four years. The Champs Sports Bowl can choose Notre Dame instead of a Big East member once during the four years, provided the Irish have a win-loss record of 7-5 or better. The same two-win rule that was in effect in the Gator/Sun deal also applies in the new arrangement. For instance, a 7-5 Notre Dame team can be selected over a 9-3 Big East team, but not over a 10-2 squad.
Hogan said his bowl probably would have made the deal without the Notre Dame clause, but that provided "icing on the cake.''
"You could fairly say that a Big East deal would have been done if Notre Dame wasn't part of the package,'' Hogan said. "The fact that they are makes it that much more attractive.''
The falling out with the Gator Bowl after a 15-year run was because the Gator wanted to continue its hybrid agreement with the Sun, whereby those bowls traded the first choice each year and could select a Big 12 team or a Big East team twice. Notre Dame was eligible to replace a Big East team in each bowl once during the last four-year contract, meaning the Irish could replace the Big East twice in four years. The Gator still has that option this year, the last of the current contract.
Short of continuing the hybrid arrangement with the Sun, the Gator wanted to be able to choose Notre Dame twice in any straight four-year pact with the Big East. The league flatly refused.
Marinatto said Tuesday that what sealed the deal with the Champs Sports Bowl over the Gator was simple - Hogan's group agreed first.
"They were the ones who were ready to make the deal,'' Marinatto said.
This year's Champs Sports Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 28 on ESPN and pits an ACC team against a Big Ten opponent. Hogan said the date would remain essentially the same throughout the next four years, give or take a day. It will not, however, be played on New Year's Day because that's when the Citrus Bowl is played.
One certain downgrade in the Champs Sports Bowl from the Gator is the facility. Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium is a 65,438-seat dinosaur that the city of Orlando is attempting to renovate, but as yet the money to do so hasn't been found.
In announcing the deal, the Big East and the Champs Sports Bowl became one of the first pairs to officially make an agreement for the 2010-13 bowl cycle (2011-14 as far as bowls played New Year's Day or later). The Bowl Championship agreement is already in place for those years and the Big East champion is an automatic qualifier for that. The Champs Sports Bowl now gets the first choice of league teams or Notre Dame after that.
With the Gator Bowl out of the picture, the rest of the Big East bowl pecking order can be arranged. Although no deals are officially in place, the Sun Bowl is expected to sign up for the Big East's No. 3 selection, a deal that will certainly include a chance to choose Notre Dame in at least one of the years of the pact. The Meineke Car Care Bowl, if it re-ups, would presumably get the fourth selection.
Beyond that, it's not clear if the Big East will keep all of its remaining bowl tie-ins. This year that includes the Papajohns.com Bowl, the St. Petersburg Bowl and the International Bowl. But added to the others, that's seven bowls for an eight-team conference that is seldom likely to fill them all.
Bowl will get Big East's No. 2 team, pay out $2.4 million-plus
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
The comparison might seem somewhat of a stretch, but new Big East commissioner John Marinatto went there anyway.
After touting his league's football performance over the past four years - including BCS bowl victories in three of those years and a 12-4 bowl record - Marinatto said that agreeing to a four-year deal with the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., was the next logical step.
"I'll tell you the same thing I told our athletic directors late [Monday] night when we finalized this deal,'' Marinatto said Tuesday afternoon. "It's like the Super Bowl commercial says, 'We're going to Disney World.' If Disney World is good enough for the Super Bowl winner, it's good enough for us.''
Ending a long relationship with the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., the Big East formally announced its arrangement to send its No. 2 team to the Champs Sports Bowl beginning in the 2010 season. The deal, like all agreements between conferences and bowls, is for four years.
The particulars:
The payout for the game will be $2.4 million plus incentives, according to Steve Hogan, the CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, which runs both the Champs Sports Bowl and the Citrus Bowl. That's roughly the same as the Gator Bowl paid its participants in recent years, but short of the $3 million the Gator is attempting to reach for its next four-year cycle.
The opponent is likely to be an Atlantic Coast Conference team, probably the No. 4 choice from that league (after the BCS, Chick-fil-A and Gator). But the Big Ten is still involved in negotiations, and Hogan said his group isn't prepared to finalize the Big East's opponent yet. The Big Ten's No. 4 or 5 choice now goes to the Champs Sports Bowl, but that's the team that will probably jump into the vacated Gator Bowl position.
Notre Dame is again involved in the agreement, just as it was with the Gator/Sun Bowl hybrid agreement that was in place the past four years. The Champs Sports Bowl can choose Notre Dame instead of a Big East member once during the four years, provided the Irish have a win-loss record of 7-5 or better. The same two-win rule that was in effect in the Gator/Sun deal also applies in the new arrangement. For instance, a 7-5 Notre Dame team can be selected over a 9-3 Big East team, but not over a 10-2 squad.
Hogan said his bowl probably would have made the deal without the Notre Dame clause, but that provided "icing on the cake.''
"You could fairly say that a Big East deal would have been done if Notre Dame wasn't part of the package,'' Hogan said. "The fact that they are makes it that much more attractive.''
The falling out with the Gator Bowl after a 15-year run was because the Gator wanted to continue its hybrid agreement with the Sun, whereby those bowls traded the first choice each year and could select a Big 12 team or a Big East team twice. Notre Dame was eligible to replace a Big East team in each bowl once during the last four-year contract, meaning the Irish could replace the Big East twice in four years. The Gator still has that option this year, the last of the current contract.
Short of continuing the hybrid arrangement with the Sun, the Gator wanted to be able to choose Notre Dame twice in any straight four-year pact with the Big East. The league flatly refused.
Marinatto said Tuesday that what sealed the deal with the Champs Sports Bowl over the Gator was simple - Hogan's group agreed first.
"They were the ones who were ready to make the deal,'' Marinatto said.
This year's Champs Sports Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 28 on ESPN and pits an ACC team against a Big Ten opponent. Hogan said the date would remain essentially the same throughout the next four years, give or take a day. It will not, however, be played on New Year's Day because that's when the Citrus Bowl is played.
One certain downgrade in the Champs Sports Bowl from the Gator is the facility. Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium is a 65,438-seat dinosaur that the city of Orlando is attempting to renovate, but as yet the money to do so hasn't been found.
In announcing the deal, the Big East and the Champs Sports Bowl became one of the first pairs to officially make an agreement for the 2010-13 bowl cycle (2011-14 as far as bowls played New Year's Day or later). The Bowl Championship agreement is already in place for those years and the Big East champion is an automatic qualifier for that. The Champs Sports Bowl now gets the first choice of league teams or Notre Dame after that.
With the Gator Bowl out of the picture, the rest of the Big East bowl pecking order can be arranged. Although no deals are officially in place, the Sun Bowl is expected to sign up for the Big East's No. 3 selection, a deal that will certainly include a chance to choose Notre Dame in at least one of the years of the pact. The Meineke Car Care Bowl, if it re-ups, would presumably get the fourth selection.
Beyond that, it's not clear if the Big East will keep all of its remaining bowl tie-ins. This year that includes the Papajohns.com Bowl, the St. Petersburg Bowl and the International Bowl. But added to the others, that's seven bowls for an eight-team conference that is seldom likely to fill them all.
