With the addition of the galleryfurniture.com bowl and
the Silicon Valley Bowl, there are now 25 bowls "spread
across this great land," according to CBS SportsLine's
Dennis Dodd, who wrote, "Supply is about to exceed demand.
And the established bowls don't know what to do about it."
Dodd noted that on its Web site, the galleryfurniture.com
bowl is "already advertising" a Big 12-Conference USA game
in December. Dodd: "That's news to the Big 12, which is
saying it has no dot-commitment to the new bowl. These
impudent upstart bowls aren't worried about a glut. It's a
bull market. Only the strong survive." Dodd also noted
that the Independence Bowl "has been in financial trouble"
and the Insight.com bowl "was moved" from Tucson to Phoenix.
Freedom Bowl CMO Brian Baker, on the bowl field: "I think
you'll find that the likelihood of 25 or 26 surviving is not
likely. There are some that are financially just not going
to make it." Dodd, on the two additional bowls: "So why
jump into this crowded pool? Because it's so easy. In this
booming economy, anyone with a title sponsor and a $2
million letter of credit can get certified. The skittish
NCAA isn't about to turn anyone down with the L-word --
lawsuit -- hanging over its head" (CBS SportsLine, 4/27).
In AZ, Greg Hansen asks, "Why did the Insight.com bowl fail"
in Tucson? Hansen: "There was never a professional
management team in place to run the day-to-day operation,
but rather a series of rookies learning as they went. ... No
one took charge" (ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 4/28).