Bowl Games Coming to Fenway Park, LA and Myrtle Beach in 2020
Don Brown might be secretly hoping we get to play in the Boston Bowl at some point, but I am not. Actually, that bowl will be between the ACC and AAC, so it's doubtful we would ever qualify. LINK.
With the three new bowls, there will be a record 43 bowls, meaning 65% of FCS teams will get to play in a bowl. We're going to be seeing a lot of 5-7's from now on.
AWESOME! Can't Wait!
TOO MANY BOWL GAMES!
Why? I mean, the bowl system must be working, or else why are there more and more popping up? As for fans....that time around Christmas is great for Bowl Games. More the merrier....I know a lot of people out here where I'm at watch at gatherings or with the family. We have the New Mexico Bowl out here that follows up the HS football season and I use that as a chance for a day or two with my staff to unwind and just have some fun...I'm sure some of these other bowls operate the same way for many HS coaches...and over Christmas Break...the more games the better! Not a ton of great college BBall games at that point, and you end up having a few beers, watching a couple intense lower level bowl games with 99% of the players knowing they wont be going pro...its just for the love of the game...its a good time.
I agree with this. I don't think the number of bowl games has any bearing on the significance of the "big bowl games" and I like when college football is being played and I can watch it. Like, I watch the Pinstripe Bowl. I watch the Las Vegas Bowl. I like watching those games. I may not watch every play but it is college football in a unique neutral field environment. I learn about teams that I don't watch that often and see good players that I know little about. I have no issue with bowl games or bowl season. I just wish we would win a few of them.
I still believe that the NY6 should become the NY8 and add two more bowls that reside in B1G and ACC country. Honestly Raleigh and Indy would make the most sense. Every year if a team from the SEC or Big 12 make the playoff, they are ensured to be in a bowl location either directly in their conference boundaries, or right next to it. The fact that there isn't a major CFP rotating bowl in B1G territory is an issue.
Just what we need. More compelling 5-7 vs. 6-6 matchups with 1,200 people in the stands.
BUT IT'S FOOTBAWWW!!!
I'm a football degenerate on a lot of fall Saturdays, often having 2 TVs setup in my living room if there are a few big games on, but even I can't get myself to sit down and watch a 6-6 Tulane vs. 7-5 Fresno State in front of 2,000 people.
You and I are the same, then. I will watch 14-15 hours of NCAAF coverage every Saturday during the season, but these crappy bowl games with so few people in attendance are just unwatchable.
The reason there are so many bowl games is because people like me tune in.
If its between watching two 5 - 7 teams playing football and dealing with family.....then, let's turn on the game!
....I can't argue with that logic.
.....and I even like my family (in-laws included).
I don't mind having several dozen Bowl games - the 6 and 7 win Sun Belt and MAC teams should have a post-season opportunity just like the 6 and 7 win B1G teams do.
But over the last 5 years:
2018 - 4 Bowl eligible teams did not go Bowling.
2017 - 3 Bowl eligible teams did not go Bowling.
2016 - The Bowls had to take 4 initially ineligible teams to fill all the Bowl slots.
2015 - The Bowls had to take 3 initially ineligible teams to fill all the Bowl slots.
2014 - 5 Bowl eligible teams did not go Bowling.
We've added 3 new Bowl games, which will require 6 teams --- but in NONE of the last 5 years have there actually been 6 more Bowl eligible teams actually available.
So I would say the "too many Bowl games" argument does have some merit this time.
Totally agree. Teams should have to earn their way into a postseason game, preferably with a winning record. I wast okay with .500 (6-6) squads getting in. Going bowling with a losing record is ridiculous.
It's Collegiate ball Chucky, simmer down.
I agree, and I will say...those Sun Belt level teams use the publicity for Bowl games to their advantage. New Mexico State won a bowl game that was on the internet only 2 seasons ago and that city is still abuzz about it. Had one of their coaches in my office a little while back and he used it to actively recruit one of our guys. He flashed his Nova Loans Bowl ring and my guy loved it. Are there too many? Perhaps. But for a lot of those small schools and small conferences, they have to have them to compete in recruiting.
I remember New Mexico State in 2017. What was cool was they earned their way to 6 wins and that Bowl game. They were 4-6 and had to win their last 2 home games.
I watched the 2nd half of their season finale against South Alabama on ESPN3. That sounds like a weird game for a neutral-fan to be watching but it was a 1-score game and dramatic given the stakes. Their fans stormed the field after winning.
If NMSU had lost the finale but still qualified at 5-7 - I doubt their fans and coaches would remember their first ever Bowl as fondly.
and THIS... is what college ball is about!
*Too many have forgotten this over the years with Big Business taking over.
That is a fair point. MAC teams schedule Power 5 teams, and that is their buy-in. The thing is, going to a bowl is not always revenue-positive for schools who have to balance the cost of eating the unsold ticket allotment against what they get back from the conference. In theory, however, broadening the MAC revenue base with more bowls will defray the costs.
Is there really that much TV money to support all these bowl games? That's rhetorical because obviously the answer is yes. The bowls certainly can't make money on attendance and the athletic departments come out in the red on these right?
An outdoor football game during December/January in Boston.
I guess they planned it with climate change in mind.
We've certainly seen enough Patriots games played in late December and January, and the weather always looks like it sucks balls. I think the Fenway Bowl will be a miserable experience for all involved.
they should have it played as a punishment.
teams with 5-7 record have to play there and if they decline invitation they forfeit conference profit dividends.
Actually, December is generally fairly mild in the Northeast. Our family tradition last few years has been to attend the Patriots game on Christmas Eve day. The Gillette December experience has never been miserable - a bit chilly at pre-noon tailgate time but once the Bud Lite flows and the Dilly Dilly starts - all is good !
Think about it this way - a Michigan November typically has worse weather than a New England December. I am sure you tailgate and watch football games in late November without being too miserable.
Fenway is a great venue and Boston is a lot of fun in any season.
The Greenies Dog Dental Chews Green Monster Bowl
The You've Never Had A Fish Taco Until You've Had a Fish Taco in LLLLLAAAAAAA Bowl
The South Carolina Was First to Secede (And They're Still Proud of It!) Myrtle Beach Bowl
Pageantry is going to be off the charts. I already bought tickets for all three.
My dog likes Greenies, her breath is still trash though.
Couldn't agree about SC any more... NC is pretty bad too, hate living here.
Was just in Fayetteville NC. for business and one of the girls in the company was soooo proud to show me their market quarter and the pavilion where they used to sell PEOPLE. WTF? Isn't this 2019
Moving back to Lost Wages (Vegas) as soon as I can. The bigotry gets on my nerves.
Charleston, SC still has bronzed signs all over town about being the first to secede. It's unreal how pathetically proud they are of that fact.
They already have a Wikipedia page up for the Myrtle Beach Bowl. LINK. It's going to be played at Coastal Carolina's 20,000-seat stadium, and one of the three leagues eligible is the MAC.
My second-favorite team is EMU, so I don't think it would suck for an EMU player or fan to spend part of December in Myrtle Beach. Hell, I might even go.
Come on, EMU in 2020! Get me to the Myrtle Beach Bowl!
I know we all think its stupid that they're adding more bowls, and in a way I do as well. But the current bowls must be continually generating more money, otherwise these new games wouldn't keep popping up. I find it hard to believe that the Idaho Potato Bowl, or the Cheez-It Bowl, or the Go Daddy Bowl actually generate a profit, but apparently they do, and here we are.
The way I see it, its more football around Christmas time, so I don't have any serious qualms with it. The only consideration I have is the fact that they're opting to play a game in Fenway in the dead of winter. That's going to be an absolutely miserable experience for anyone who bothers going to the game. But all the money is in the TV revenue, so I don't think the powers-that-be give two shits about where the game is played. It could be in Barrow, Alaska and they wouldn't care.
"But all the money is in the TV revenue..."
By 2050, college and pro football will no longer be played by real humans. AI-driven graphics will be so advanced and powerful that the games will actually be "played" by digital avatars controlled by human gamers wearing full-body VR systems. The stadiums and the fans in them will be entirely digital creations, and the games will be watched solely by people at home or in bars.
All of which means the mad proliferation of bowl games we see now is nothing to what we'll see then, since there will be no practical, real-world concerns about attendance and facilities and weather to consider. Every bowl game will be played in brilliant sunshine in perfect weather in front of 150,000 deliriously enthusiastic and stunningly gorgeous/handsome digital fans.
"We all" ?
I disagree, the more bowling the better; more college football is always a good thing. Beats the hell out of watching the Pro's.
Bowl games Now are a joke.
2 that matter, CFP, and the rose bowl.
Back to today's society, give everyone a trophy.
Brady Hoke impression? He does it well... and I think they're both on the same career path.
I despise the idea of “participation trophies” just as much as you, but this isn’t about making sure everyone’s included. This is about money. That’s all it’s ever been about.
As long as adding more bowls is profitable, they’re going to keep getting added year after year. Pretty soon you’ll see 4-8 teams added to the mix.
What's the problem with 'participation trophies' educate me please...
They become meaningless. Like finding a penny. Barely worth the time.
We are already having trouble getting players to show up for NY6 games. Imagine Boston in December.
I guess I disagree... what is it, 5% of collegiate athletes actually go on to the pros?
Most of these athletes are kids that are there for the education and experience.
If you're going to call 'foul' on participation trophies, or say they're for "pussies" (below), then I'd apply the same logic to Harbaugh taking the kids overseas for a "vacation". Ask those two boosters (EA/Blizzard - and EA sucks ass btw), to donate that money to the facilities and other sports teams.
Never saw Bo, Mo, Carr taking kids on cultural vacations... those are for "pussies".
They're for pussies
... so are cultural vacations for football teams overseas.
Genau.
I personally don't believe in handing out trophies just because somebody tried something. The purpose of a trophy is completely defeated when you hand one to somebody who didn't really deserve to get one to begin with.
While I certainly don't believe in chastising someone who loses (especially those who truly did their best), I think I'm just a little more old-school in my beliefs on the subject. You hand trophies to winners, and to the losers, you give them a pat on the back, tell them that its not the end of the world, use this as motivation, and to come back and try again next time around.
I read the headline and thought oh ok, a current bowl will be relocated to these areas.
NOPE
Silly me. These are NEW bowls. As if we don't have too many already. More bowls with 3,000 or less people in attendance. These are unwatchable games. Of course, I say they are unwatchable now because I'm so used to finishing the season with a loss to OSU that I barely pay attention to bowl season until the bigger games. Maybe...just MAYBE...if we beat OSU more than twice since 2003, I'd watch more bowl games.
Twice? Don't you mean once?
More bowl games means more people will be upset when players skip bowl games. I didnt think I was going to survive those arguments last year ("IS THERE NO LOYALTY ANYMORE?! WHY CANT HARBAUGH CONVINCE THESE GUYS TO PLAY?!!!!")
Modern mans existential dilemma...
I used to look forward to Bowl season..Now...Meh hardly even watch until last few days in Dec..they have become BORING
Might need to move a few "elite" D2 teams up to D1
App St.
and move them to the B1G
If Notre Dame plays in the Fenway bowl, it'll be like having a second St. Patrick's Day.