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 game is played at Legion Field, and matches either a Big East Conference or Mid-American Conference team against a representative of Conference USA. The Big East and MAC alternate years of participation. In the event that that year's representative league does not have any bowl-eligible teams left, the other will take its spot.
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 first Papa Johns.com Bowl was played at noon on December 23, 2006. Head coach Jim Leavitt's South Florida Bulls (9-4, 4-3 Big East) defeated Skip Holtz' 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 as USF defended the end zone perfectly after three ECU drives inside the 20. Both starting quarterbacks left the game with mild injuries.
Hospitality
The bowl paid $300,000 to each affiliated conference. Tickets were $30 (or $20 each when buying 4 or more). Early purchasers will be able to renew the same seats for future games. In all, around 41,000 tickets were sold, and the actual attendance was reported as 32,023. 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.
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.
- Solomon, Jon (December 24, 2006) "Cheers for Papajohns.com Bowl." Birmingham News.
External links
- PapaJohns.com Bowl website