Gator Bowl prez: "We’d very much like to put Georgia against Iowa or Michigan"

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Gopherprof said:
I'm saying that being on New Year's Day by itself is not a measure of prestige. Are SOME games on New Year's Day prestigious? Of course. But so are some games that aren't on New Year's Day and vice versa.
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Absolutely. The Gator Bowl is not on nearly the same level as the Rose Bowl, and the Heart of Dallas Bowl is not on nearly the same level as the Gator Bowl. But to say a NYD game that has been around for seven decades is no longer a big deal because its ratings suffered when matched against two other games featuring teams from the exact same conferences seems silly to me (and if eyeballs matter that much to a game's prestige, the Gator Bowl will be unopposed for the first hour this year).

Gopherprof said:
And yes, being sponsored by a website (particularly a website most people have never heard of) is a little more demeaning than being sponsored by a major corporate brand, which they would get as a sponsor if people actually watched their game and they were on a real network (which they aren't, because it's not a big game). It's the difference between being Disney World and the county fair; and the county fair has been around longer as well.
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So Little Caesars Pizza Bowl = Outback Bowl?
 

Does Little Caesars count as a major brand? Either way, they are located in Detroit, so there's a local affiliation there as well.

But yes I think ratings are by far the biggest determinant of a bowl's "prestige". But I also think that outside of the BCS there are only about 3-4 bowls that really can make any claim to "prestige" (Capital One, Outback, Chick Fil-A, Cotton) and the rest are pretty much interchangeable excuses to not talk to your relatives during the holidays.
 

Omega015 said:
As someone who has attended 7 of the last 8 bowl games, I would say that the matchup is absolutely going to influence my decision to attend another game in Houston. I'm one of the people that will go regardless of the opponent, but even I'm not going if it's Texas Tech again.

I've already seen that game twice, and don't need to see it a third time. Also, Texas Tech has some of the worst fans. I generally enjoy my time with the opponent's fans, but not those people. There's also the fact that, for unknown reasons, Houston is an incredibly expensive flight from Minneapolis. Last year I had to spend $550 to get a flight to IAH. Another $150 would get me to Europe. I assume that the folks at the U understand all of these things, and are going to do anything they can to get the Gophers a different game.
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Interesting points and perspective. On the last point I am sure the U would love to avoid a rematch from last year but their hands are going to be pretty tied in avoiding it assuming things go the way it looks like they might with the pecking order. I have no doubt they will lobby as hard as they can to the Gator and Buffalo Wild Wings bowls but if it comes down to us, Nebraska, and Michigan for those 3 games it is not hard to predict how it is going to shake out. Seems to me the only way we avoid Houston is if Michigan State takes OSU out of the NC picture and bumps everyone down a spot.
 

If Michigan State beats Ohio State the Buckeyes will still get a BCS at-large.
 

Gopherprof said:
Does Little Caesars count as a major brand? Either way, they are located in Detroit, so there's a local affiliation there as well.
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Apparently Little Caesars did nearly $3 billion in U.S. sales, more than Papa John's, who also had a bowl sponsorship recently. Also, Outback is based in Tampa.

Gopherprof said:
But yes I think ratings are by far the biggest determinant of a bowl's "prestige". But I also think that outside of the BCS there are only about 3-4 bowls that really can make any claim to "prestige" (Capital One, Outback, Chick Fil-A, Cotton) and the rest are pretty much interchangeable excuses to not talk to your relatives during the holidays.
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As you might've guessed, I just don't see as much correlation between TV ratings and growth of the program. Putting the Gophers in Florida against a big-name SEC opponent might generate enough fan excitement to bring a few thousand fans south and boost our traveling reputation, so that we get the benefit of the doubt if/when it comes time to lobby for those major bowls. To me, that will mean more in the long run than the extra households who flipped on the Texas Bowl while sitting on the couch.
 


Jike Spingleton said:
Apparently Little Caesars did nearly $3 billion in U.S. sales, more than Papa John's, who also had a bowl sponsorship recently. Also, Outback is based in Tampa.

As you might've guessed, I just don't see as much correlation between TV ratings and growth of the program. Putting the Gophers in Florida against a big-name SEC opponent might generate enough fan excitement to bring a few thousand fans south and boost our traveling reputation, so that we get the benefit of the doubt if/when it comes time to lobby for those major bowls. To me, that will mean more in the long run than the extra households who flipped on the Texas Bowl while sitting on the couch.
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Meeting/beating Georgia certainly should be considered to be a better win than beating Texas Tech. That should apply to recruits, poll voters and alumni. Of course that would mean taking reputation and history, both recent and long term, into account.

Betting the Prof doesn't teach history. ;)
 

I was wondering why ESPN would want to have four games taking place that simultaneously feature Big Ten teams (Capital One, Outback, Gator, Heart of Dallas when able). Theoretically you're splitting the Big Ten viewing audience three to four ways, while also splitting the SEC audience three ways. It turns out that was all part of ESPN's overall plan. The idea was to get Big Ten fans tuned into ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU and drive home that the Rose Bowl is up next, therefore funneling the audience into ESPN's flagship New Year's Day bowl. The Gator Bowl got more money to be on ESPN2 while sitting as third in the pecking order than it received as CBS' only bowl on January 1. To ESPN it's a loss leader that justifies its cost by shepherding Big Ten fans, and others, to the Rose Bowl in the late afternoon.
 


I don't really get the Prof's argument.

Are you saying that it's a blessing in disguise to play in Houston compared to the Gator Bowl based entirely on the TV audience? Why is that exposure important? Isn't it important for future recruiting?

If that's your argument, I disagree. I think sitting with a recruit and saying "we played in the Gator Bowl on NYD" would be a much bigger boost to our future recruiting than the additional TV viewers in the different bowls.
 



Sports_Realist said:
I was wondering why ESPN would want to have four games taking place that simultaneously feature Big Ten teams (Capital One, Outback, Gator, Heart of Dallas when able). Theoretically you're splitting the Big Ten viewing audience three to four ways, while also splitting the SEC audience three ways. It turns out that was all part of ESPN's overall plan. The idea was to get Big Ten fans tuned into ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU and drive home that the Rose Bowl is up next, therefore funneling the audience into ESPN's flagship New Year's Day bowl. The Gator Bowl got more money to be on ESPN2 while sitting as third in the pecking order than it received as CBS' only bowl on January 1. To ESPN it's a loss leader that justifies its cost by shepherding Big Ten fans, and others, to the Rose Bowl in the late afternoon.
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The B1G doesn't want this either. New tie-ins next year (see bottom of article). http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/77257/big-ten-bowl-schedule-for-2013-released
 

Omega015 said:
As someone who has attended 7 of the last 8 bowl games, I would say that the matchup is absolutely going to influence my decision to attend another game in Houston. I'm one of the people that will go regardless of the opponent, but even I'm not going if it's Texas Tech again.

I've already seen that game twice, and don't need to see it a third time. Also, Texas Tech has some of the worst fans. I generally enjoy my time with the opponent's fans, but not those people. There's also the fact that, for unknown reasons, Houston is an incredibly expensive flight from Minneapolis. Last year I had to spend $550 to get a flight to IAH. Another $150 would get me to Europe. I assume that the folks at the U understand all of these things, and are going to do anything they can to get the Gophers a different game.
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I'm right there with you. We made the trip last year, and while we were there, we didn't encounter many nice folks from Lubbock. I'd love to make another trip this year, as I really enjoy the bowl week festivities; but if we were paired with Tech in the Texas Bowl again, it'd be hard to justify it as easily as justifying a trip to another bowl or against a different opponent.
 

While I hate the idea of the Texas Bowl again, there are a couple of positives that I can see. First, it's on a Friday night. While not ideal for TV audiences, it does make it more enticing for me to get rip-roaring drunk without having to take a day off. Secondly, this team seems to thrive with a chip on its shoulder. I can see Jerry and Co. using the fact that they had to go back to Houston as a motivating factor going into 2014.
 

So are we going to get out of playing Tech or not?

Respectfully, everything else is pointless commentary.
 



Wow. This is the Gator Bowl president saying "we are not going to select Minnesota".
It doesn't get any more clear than that.
 

Goldmember said:
Wow. This is the Gator Bowl president saying "we are not going to select Minnesota".
It doesn't get any more clear than that.
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It's the Alamo Bowl all over again. And again. And again...

A.B.M.
 


This is SO f*ing frustrating, but not at all surprising. This has happened so many times we could see this coming from a million miles away. ARGH! This is a total chicken and egg situation. Minnesota fans have the "don't travel well" reputation, but when was the last time the team played in a prestigious bowl game in a desirable locale that UM fans would actually want to travel to? I KNOW that fans would attend a game like that. Problem is, NO bowl worth a sh*t is going to give our fans that opportunity. Alamo has proven it. Outback has proven it. Gator is about to prove it. I've been scouting air fares and hotels in Jacksonville for two weeks, and I'm sure there are many others like me. Now I'm feeling totally deflated. I'm sorry, but a rematch of a rematch with TT in lovely Houston (and the associated airfare) does nothing for me. Sucks.
 

We're just going to have to win 10-11 games and get to a position where a bigger bowl pretty much has to take us on record alone. I think in that case people will travel.

Nobody wants to go to places like Houston and Jacksonville. For any reason really.
 

Sports_Realist said:
A huge obstacle on the Gator Bowl front is that Michigan, Nebraska, and Iowa have not been there very recently in the first two cases and not at all in the last case.
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Michigan was in the Gator Bowl in 2011 (drew 68,325).
Nebraska was in the Gator Bowl in 2009 (drew 67,232).
Iowa was in the Gator Bowl in 1983 (drew 81,293 - 4th best all-time Gator Bowl attendance).
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
If that's your argument, I disagree. I think sitting with a recruit and saying "we played in the Gator Bowl on NYD" would be a much bigger boost to our future recruiting than the additional TV viewers in the different bowls.
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The Gator Bowl doesn't mean a damn thing to the average recruit. They want to be on TV.
 

Gopherprof said:
The Gator Bowl doesn't mean a damn thing to the average recruit. They want to be on TV.
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but saying you played against an SEC team like Georgia or A&M and johnny manziel looks better to recruits then Texas Tech
 

Dumb question, but whats the weather like in Houston around bowl time?
 

Northwestern has been to the Alamo, Outback and Gator Bowls. Each of those years, Northwestern had won five Conference Games.
That is probably what Minnesota has to do. Northwestern Fan's must travel a lot worse then we do.
 


More today from the Gator Bowl prez after their committee's final meeting prior to selection day. A courtesy mention of Minnesota:

"“What came out of the meeting is that our ideal choices seem to be either Georgia or Texas A&M against either Michigan [7-5] or Nebraska [8-4],” said Gator Bowl Association president Rick Catlett. “Our feeling is that we can’t miss this year and no matter how it turns out, it will be a matchup that will have nationwide appeal.”

Catlett said LSU (9-3) and Minnesota (8-4) are still possibilities.

http://jacksonville.com/sports/college/2013-12-02/story/sec-shake-could-bring-texas-am-gator-bowl
 

Jike Spingleton said:
More today from the Gator Bowl prez after their committee's final meeting prior to selection day. A courtesy mention of Minnesota:

"“What came out of the meeting is that our ideal choices seem to be either Georgia or Texas A&M against either Michigan [7-5] or Nebraska [8-4],” said Gator Bowl Association president Rick Catlett. “Our feeling is that we can’t miss this year and no matter how it turns out, it will be a matchup that will have nationwide appeal.”

Catlett said LSU (9-3) and Minnesota (8-4) are still possibilities.

http://jacksonville.com/sports/college/2013-12-02/story/sec-shake-could-bring-texas-am-gator-bowl
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That should all but seal the Wolverines to Jacksonville.
 

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