Third Annual New Mexico Bowl set for 12:30 p.m. MT kickoff Saturday, Dec. 20, on ESPN and ESPN HD

ESPN Regional Television, Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN, announced today that the 2008 New Mexico Bowl will be played Saturday, Dec. 20 in University Stadium on the campus of the University of New Mexico. The third annual game will feature teams from the Mountain West Conference and the Western Athletic Conference and will again be televised nationally on ESPN and ESPN HD.

Kickoff for the 2008 New Mexico Bowl will be at 12:30 p.m. MT (2:30 ET). This marks a change from the first two New Mexico Bowls, which kicked off at 2:30 MT.

“This is an ideal situation for the New Mexico Bowl and for football fans,” said Jeff Siembieda, New Mexico Bowl executive director.  “It got a little chilly towards the end of the game last year for the people in the stands. By moving the start time back a couple of hours, we can maximize the amount of sunlight and make it as comfortable as possible.”

“Of course, we love the Saturday afternoon time slot,” Siembieda said. “This has proved to be good for the event both locally and nationally. We thank ESPN for working hard to continue to give us the best chance to grow this bowl experience.”

"ESPN is pleased to have this game at a time that improves the fan experience as well as keeping it on a day that maximizes the television exposure,” said Clint Overby, Senior Director of Events, ESPN Regional Television.  “We remain committed to showcasing the state and the community to a national audience." 

The 2007 game was played Saturday, Dec. 22. New Mexico defeated Nevada 23-0 in front of 30,322 fans and a national television audience. The inaugural New Mexico Bowl was played in front of 34,111 on Dec. 23, 2006.  San Jose State beat New Mexico that day, 20-12.

For more information, visit www.newmexicobowl.com.

The New Mexico Bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television (ERT). ERT markets and owns five other bowl games — the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl, Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, PapaJohns.com Bowl and the St. Petersburg Bowl.

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 StPetersburg.com Bowl; the Papajohns.com Bowl; the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces 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 SEC/BIG EAST 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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