GATOR BOWL in trouble

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Umm, were we the solution or the problem that day? I believe Janet Rodgers, on her own initiative, helped. But not convinced the Peach Bowl turned to us unless they came saying “we were the only ones to give you a shot and, in your own city, you aren’t selling tickets regardless of day the game is played.”

Those were some dark days. IF, IF, IF only ELI had not got screwed over in athens and Pepper could have won that game. But then if only curry could have beaten auburn in 85, if only Lewis could have held on and beaten fsu, if only CPJ could have beaten ugag in 09.

The beauty of sports is the big “if”.

I believe Carson’s Peach Bowl debacle was a “final nail” excuse but the coffin was already sealed.

As for Gator Bowl, I think they may have rested on their laurels and felt too much in a comfort zone. They were at one time the biggest “second tier” game for schools not going to Sugar, Orange, or Cotton bowls. But Outback, Citrus Hall of Fame (or whatever those central Florida city bowls are called) came up with better visitor entertainment venues and invited better teams.

I think the emergence of the Fiesta Bowl killed the Gator Bowl, as it also did the Cotton Bowl. One would think certainly the Cotton Bowl could have survived, but it did not, nor did the Gator, although the Cotton Bowl now finally seems to be making a comeback.

 

[GTJake]

The thing I remember about the 1999 Gator Bowl vs. ND, was the tailgate before the game.
We were having a great time with a large contingent of GT fans and about 30-45 minutes before gametime a group of ND fans came barging through the party chanting "we are ND, we are ND, etc".
We all just stepped aside let them pass-through and went back to having a good time ... funny, we didn't see (or hear) them in the post-game party !!

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Well for pete's sake - they selected a team from TEXAS and a team from NORTH CAROLINA. They didn't bring anybody in from Florida, South Carolina, or Georgia - who surround Jacksonville. What did they think would happen? Do they think they had a lot of Texas A&M fans in town?

 

[RickStromFan]

The thing I remember about the 1999 Gator Bowl vs. ND, was the tailgate before the game.
We were having a great time with a large contingent of GT fans and about 30-45 minutes before gametime a group of ND fans came barging through the party chanting "we are ND, we are ND, etc".
We all just stepped aside let them pass-through and went back to having a good time ... funny, we didn't see (or hear) them in the post-game party !!

I remember the classless ND band playing their insidious fight song as loud as possible during the post-game MVP and trophy presentations to Dez White and the boys. Such a great day to put those arrogant jerks in their place!

 

[Vespidae]

Attendance the last three years has taken an alarming nosedive, averaging just 40,873 fans. “Last year was the first time that we took in more ticket revenue from out-of-town visitors than locally, and that’s a problem,” Catlett said.

Paul Finebaum addressed this on his show a few months ago. Bowl games are now ... just programming. The broadcasters, like ESPN, could care less how many tickets are sold. I think I watched a bowl game a night for 3 weeks in December.

This is a good example of Less is More. I prefer the old days when there were 12 or so bowl games and most meant something. Now .. I cringe when I see a team with a 0.500 record talking about bowling.

 

[Animal02]

Paul Finebaum addressed this on his show a few months ago. Bowl games are now ... just programming. The broadcasters, like ESPN, could care less how many tickets are sold. I think I watched a bowl game a night for 3 weeks in December.

This is a good example of Less is More. I prefer the old days when there were 12 or so bowl games and most meant something. Now .. I cringe when I see a team with a 0.500 record talking about bowling.

Motor City bowl is a good example....they could probably increase attendance by 15-20k if they did not schedule it the day after Christmas.....but they have that time slot to fill.

 

[augustabuzz]

Umm, were we the solution or the problem that day? I believe Janet Rodgers, on her own initiative, helped. But not convinced the Peach Bowl turned to us unless they came saying “we were the only ones to give you a shot and, in your own city, you aren’t selling tickets regardless of day the game is played.”

Those were some dark days. IF, IF, IF only ELI had not got screwed over in athens and Pepper could have won that game. But then if only curry could have beaten auburn in 85, if only Lewis could have held on and beaten fsu, if only CPJ could have beaten ugag in 09.

The beauty of sports is the big “if”.

I believe Carson’s Peach Bowl debacle was a “final nail” excuse but the coffin was already sealed.

As for Gator Bowl, I think they may have rested on their laurels and felt too much in a comfort zone. They were at one time the biggest “second tier” game for schools not going to Sugar, Orange, or Cotton bowls. But Outback, Citrus Hall of Fame (or whatever those central Florida city bowls are called) came up with better visitor entertainment venues and invited better teams.

I wrote what I remember from the Atlanta TV reporting at the time.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

I wrote what I remember from the Atlanta TV reporting at the time.

That is fine and I don't doubt you.

I wrote what I wrote because of discussions with GTAA members due to our business advertising on the Pepper Rodgers show.

Don't matter now and i have no doubt you do a great job reppin GT in Augusta.

I just cringe at thoughts of those dark days.

 

[Coloradojacket]

Let's just face facts. The playoffs are killing all the bowls that are not NY6. What if they played the Gator Bowl at night on New Years eve. start at 6:00 and finish in time to get to the River......but they can't because we have to have the first round of the playoffs. Another way to save it is just make sure one of the teams playing are from Florida.

 

[Coloradojacket]

In fact all bowls that are not NY6 should only invite teams that are within driving distance. No reason we should have gone to Detroit last year.

 

[augustabuzz]

That is fine and I don't doubt you.

I wrote what I wrote because of discussions with GTAA members due to our business advertising on the Pepper Rodgers show.

Don't matter now and i have no doubt you do a great job reppin GT in Augusta.

I just cringe at thoughts of those dark days.

My connections at that time were coaches, players and staff.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

My connections at that time were coaches, players and staff.

Excellent.

Mine were coaches, staff ( meaning within the football staff), and GTAA members.

Doesn’t matter anymore.

Enjoy the spring game and have a great summer preppin for the season.

THWG

 

[Vespidae]

Let's just face facts. The playoffs are killing all the bowls that are not NY6. What if they played the Gator Bowl at night on New Years eve. start at 6:00 and finish in time to get to the River......but they can't because we have to have the first round of the playoffs. Another way to save it is just make sure one of the teams playing are from Florida.

There used to be 12 bowls. Now, there’s 41. And unless you a) are NY6 or b) have an SEC opponent, you’ll draw less than 25,000 in attendance.

Bowls are programming, not community events.

 

[GT flunkout]

Gator Bowl was a New Year's Day Bowl that was second tier only to BCS bowls into the mid-2000s.

It was only 15 years ago that going to the Peach Bowl was a consolation prize for an ACC team that was passed over by the Gator. Their payouts got smaller and they moved down in the pecking order. Then they got desperate for sponsor money and eliminated the name "Gator" and lost even more prestige. That's what happened, no more, no less.

Stay on New Year's Day, pay more money, back to glory. That's it.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

I'm not sure if I understand that either unless.... there use to be an NCAA rule that bowl games where required to sell a certain percentage of tickets locally. The Peach Bowl was not getting many local ticket sales. The big crowds were coming from teams like West Virginia, NCST, etc. However the GT vs Purdue game drew the smallest Peach Bowl crowd ever at just over 20,000 on a freezing Christmas Day. I think it was the only game on tv that day.

Edit: I believe augustabuzz is correct.

I was there. Miserable.