[Chron]Houston Bowl May Shut Down

Sucks for Houston, but good for college football. Too many damn bowls as it is.

April 19, 2006, 1:04AM
Houston Bowl may shut down
Lack of money, poor attendance could doom game


By JOSEPH DUARTE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Strapped by financial problems and waning attendance, the Houston Bowl could cease operations as early as next week, a college football official said Tuesday.

The 6-year-old bowl is currently without a sponsor, and the Big 12 and Mountain West conferences have yet to receive the full payout of $1.2 million each for participating in last year's game.

The 28 bowls are scheduled to be reviewed by the NCAA bowl sub-committee as part of the renewal process next week. The Houston Bowl is currently in talks with its current partners. But if a majority of the bowl's problems are not resolved by then, the Houston Bowl is unlikely to be renewed, and this year's game would not be held, the college football official said on the condition of anonymity.

"The clock is ticking," the official said. "Nobody wants to see the Houston Bowl go through what happened with the Bluebonnet Bowl, (which ended in 1987). You would hate to see Houston out of the (bowl) mix."

Shawn Bouley, executive director of the Houston Bowl, declined comment. As recent as last May, however, Houston Bowl officials were discussing a possible increase in its $1.2 million payout to make the bowl more attractive for inclusion in the lucrative Bowl Championship Series rotation.


EV1.net out as sponsor

The Houston Bowl reached a four-year agreement with the Big East, Conference USA and Notre Dame to pair a team against the Big 12 last December. The deal runs through the 2009 season.


The bowl's three-year sponsorship with internet provider EV1.net — the bowl began in 2000 as the galleryfurniture.com Bowl — ended after the 2005 game between Iowa State and TCU at Reliant Stadium.

Bob Burda, the Big 12's assistant commissioner of communications, said Tuesday the league is closely monitoring the situation and is willing to work out a payment structure for the money still owed. The bowl payouts are usually due by April 1.

"We're aware of the financial difficulties the bowl is experiencing," Burda said. "We are watching to see what's going to happen in terms of whether the bowl is going to be re-certified for next year and future years."

The Big 12 and Mountain West have received roughly half of their guaranteed payouts.


Crowds not always good

The Houston Bowl has been plagued by poor attendance throughout its history, averaging 41,276 for the six games. Last year's game between Iowa State and TCU drew 37,286 and the Colorado-UTEP game in 2004 drew only 27,235, the smallest in its history.


The Houston Bowl has twice drawn crowds in excess of 50,000 — in 2001 for a game featuring Texas A&M and TCU and for the 2003 game with Texas Tech and Navy.

In recent years, bowl officials struggled with a mid-week date during the final week of December and a lack of community and civic support. The Houston Bowl Foundation, which was formed last fall, also inherited debt dating to 2002. C-USA member Southern Mississippi is still receiving payout installments for playing in the game.

Also, the Southeastern Conference failed to qualify enough teams to send one to the bowl game during its three-year contract that expired in 2005.

Among the possible concessions that could help the Houston Bowl stay afloat is the participating conferences agreeing to a lesser payout, the bowl official said. Presently, the Independence Bowl has the smallest payout among Big 12-affiliated bowls at $1.1 million. The bowl must also secure a sponsor for the third time in six years.

"Houston certainly has the assets to support a major-college bowl game," C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said. "The market is very important to us."

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