Showing posts with label MEAC SWAC Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MEAC SWAC Challenge. Show all posts

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Bethune-Cookman to play in MEAC-SWAC game

DAYTONA BEACH -- When the MEAC/SWAC Challenge football game was moved to Orlando two years ago, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference thought nearby Bethune-Cookman would be a natural to represent the conference.

But B-CU turned them down in 2008. The Wildcats and the Florida A&M Rattlers decided they would not be a part of the Labor Day weekend game as long as it was played at the Florida Citrus Bowl, because they thought it could infringe on their own Orlando game -- the Florida Classic -- played annually in late November.

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Monday, May 24, 2010

Orlando losing out on neutral-site games thanks to rundown Citrus Bowl‎

The Florida Citrus Bowl is home to the Florida Classic played between Bethune Cookman University and Florida A&M University. The 2010 MEAC/SWAC Challenge featuring Delaware State University and Southern University will also be played at this venue.

Orlando has taken a double-whammy to the gut in recent weeks, losing potential neutral-site games featuring Notre Dame and Florida State. Nothing surprising there, right? Orlando simply cannot lure marquee college football matchups with its woefully out-of-date Citrus Bowl. You know it. I know it. Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan knows it. While the $10 million in initial renovations is a nice measure, it is going to do nothing to get Orlando into the neutral-site game. Sadly, this is the worst time for the Citrus Bowl to be lagging behind its competitors.

Neutral-site games are in vogue once again. This season alone, there will be some 23 games played outside home stadiums across the country, up from 13 in 2007. The Georgia Dome, new Cowboys Stadium and FedEx Field, are just a few of the stadiums hosting games in 2010. Now University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., wants a piece, too, announcing earlier this week it would begin to court teams to play a neutral-site game there. Fiesta Bowl director of public relations Andrew Bagnato said the game would provide another way to bring money to Arizona. "The tourism industry needs anything we get right now," he said.

Indeed, Orlando is losing anywhere between $30 and $40 million in potential economic impact because it cannot draw teams to play here. While the Citrus Bowl does host the Capital One Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, Florida Classic and MEAC/SWAC Challenge, the last time it hosted a marquee FBS regular-season game was in October 2000 when Notre Dame played Navy.

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