ESPN Regional Television Launches St. Petersburg Bowl for 2008

Postseason Football Game on ESPN Will Feature BIG EAST-Conference USA Matchup

ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, Inc., announced today the creation of the St. Petersburg Bowl, a college football postseason game to be nationally televised on ESPN in December.

The NCAA-certified bowl game owned and operated by ERT will be played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., and will feature a bowl-eligible team from the BIG EAST Conference against one from Conference USA.

“St. Petersburg is proud to host the St. Petersburg Bowl,” St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker said. “With today’s announcement, our city joins an elite group of only 28 cities nationwide to host a NCAA Collegiate bowl game. I’d like to thank ESPN for its leadership in recruiting the bowl game, and we look forward to welcoming the BIG EAST and Conference USA to St. Petersburg in December.”

ESPN Regional Television owns and operates five other postseason college football bowls: the Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); the Bell Helicopter Armed Forced Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl; the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl and the New Mexico Bowl.

“We look forward to the opportunity to host a bowl game at a great destination – St. Petersburg,” said Pete Derzis, Senior Vice President & General Manager, ERT. “The St. Petersburg area has a great association with sports, it’s a great venue and this is sure to be a rewarding experience for the student-athletes and their teams, as well as the fans who attend the game.”

“We are thrilled to be hosting the St. Petersburg Bowl,” said DT Minich, executive director of Visit St. Pete Clearwater. “From Grand Prix to baseball tournaments to triathlons, the St. Pete/Clearwater area has a long history of hosting prestigious sporting events, so we’re honored to be named the inaugural home of a bowl competition. It also gives us the opportunity to showcase one of America’s premiere sports travel and vacation destinations, with award winning beaches, world-class cultural attractions and more.” 

“The St. Petersburg Bowl is another great bowl opportunity for the BIG EAST,” said Mike Tranghese, BIG EAST Conference. “The game is played in a BIG EAST market and already has generated great interest in the local community, and the partnership with ESPN will help the game grow quickly. Our coaches are always excited to play a postseason game in the state of Florida.”

“We are excited about the opportunity to develop a new bowl in Florida,“ C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said. “St. Petersburg is a wonderful community and a great destination for C-USA fans. The BIG EAST Conference will surely provide a great opponent on the other side of the ball. We also are confident that our partner,  ESPN Regional Television, will make the experience positive and memorable for the student-athletes.”

Tickets to the 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl are expected to go on sale this summer. For more information, call 1-800-325-2910.

ESPN REGIONAL TELEVISION/EVENT OWNERSHIP

The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 900 sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. – BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, Sun Belt, WAC).

ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several other sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Papajohns.com Bowl; the Bell Helicopter Armed Forced Bowl; the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl; the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge; and The Home Depot College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the O’Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic (Oklahoma City); the Old Spice Classic (Orlando, Fla.); the BIG EAST/SEC Invitational; the Anaheim Classic (Calif.); the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); and the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.

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