Birmingham Bowl
The PapaJohns.com Bowl (provisionally called the Birmingham Bowl) is a post-season college football bowl game approved by the NCAA in 2006. The first Papa Johns.com Bowl is scheduled for 12:00 noon on December 23, 2006 at Legion Field.
The game matches a Big East Conference team against a representative of Conference USA. In the event that the Big East does not have any bowl-eligible teams left, the Mid-American Conference takes its spot. Tickets are $30 (or $20 each when buying 4 or more). Early purchasers will be able to renew the same seats for future games.
The game is owned and organized by ESPN Regional TV. ESPN named Mark Meadows as executive director, Bo Kerr as manager of sales and marketing and Robbie Robertson as chairman of the executive board for the bowl committee. In September the bowl committee made a $25,000 donation to the Monday Morning Quarterback Club's fundraising efforts on behalf of the Crippled Children's Foundation. PapaJohns.com was announced as title sponsor on November 16, 2006.
2006
The South Florida Bulls (9-4, 4-3 Big East) defeated the East Carolina Pirates (7-6, 5-3 C-USA) in the inaugural PapaJohns.com Bowl. South Florida's Benjamin Williams scored twice in the first quarter, leading the Bills to a 24-7 half-time lead. The second half was scoreless.
The bowl paid $300,000 to each affiliated conference. As of December 19, 2006 around 17,000 tickets had been pre-sold. Jim Smither of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated 6,000 out of town visitors and a $4.1 million economic impact for the event.
Hospitality
Players from the opposing teams made visits to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and 16th Street Baptist Church, enjoyed a night of bowling at Vestavia Bowl and a show at the Comedy Club Stardome in Hoover. Team captains, mascots and cheerleaders visited Children's Hospital while the coaches' families made trips to the McWane Science Center and the Renaissance Ross Bridge Resort & Spa. The Friday team luncheon at the Sheraton Birmingham featured keynote speaker Archie Manning and the presentation of the Legend of Birmingham Award to new Samford head coach Pat Sullivan.
References
- Melick, Ray (April 28, 2006) "NCAA approves The Birmingham Bowl." Birmingham News.
- Solomon, Jon (November 15, 2006) "Papa John’s signs on as sponsor of Birmingham Bowl." Birmingham News.
- Solomon, Jon (December 4, 2006) "Inaugural game dodges inviting .500 team." Birmingham News.
- Solomon, Jon (December 22, 2006) "Game could be top 10 in area for economic impact." Birmingham News.
- Segrest, Doug and Jon Solomon (December 22, 2006) "Papajohns.com Bowl notes." Birmingham News.
External links
- PapaJohns.com Bowl website