NEW YORK—Is New York City awesome enough to attract football fans even in the cold? Mayor Michael Bloomberg is betting that it is.
On Monday, Bloomberg, New York Yankees General Partner Hal Steinbrenner, and others announced that the new Yankee Stadium will host an annual bowl game after next year’s college football season. Typically bowl games are held in the South because of the cold weather in the North at that time of year.
“What better place for a big game between the Big 12 and the Big East than the Big Apple,” said Mayor Bloomberg, citing prominent football conferences.
The city estimates that the game will draw 40,000 out-of-town visitors to the five boroughs and generate $47 million in economic activity. The bowl—as of yet unnamed—will be the first in New York City since 1962 and the first in the Northeast since 1981.
Both conferences voted to approve the bowl game with a four-year agreement. The first game will be played between December 25, 2010 and January 1, 2011. The game will pit the third or fourth team from the Big East conference against the seventh team from the Big 12. Should the Big 12 team fail to qualify per NCAA guidelines, Notre Dame has also agreed to participate if they fail to qualify for a Bowl Championship Series Bowl. In addition to their potential participation in this bowl game, Notre Dame will visit the stadium next season to play Army.
The bowl game falls in line with the city’s plan to hold nontraditional events that target the domestic travel market. Other events include: Harbor Day, the Country Music Awards, the Latin Grammys, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champions Week, Farm Aid 2007 and Spider-Man Week.
“In this economy, our goal is to remind domestic visitors that you can visit a world-class, global city at a reasonable cost. The bowl game offers a whole new platform with which to make this connection,” said George Fertitta, CEO of NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism and marketing organization.
