Tomorrow night's Capital One Orange Bowl marks "just the second time the game won’t be played in January" and "might not sound appealing for fans who prefer to party -- especially those around here so close to South Beach," according to a front-page piece by Manny Navarro of the MIAMI HERALD. However, Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms yesterday said he is "cautiously optimistic it’s going to be well received.” Poms said that this year’s Georgia Tech-Mississippi State matchup "has sold all but '1,000 to 2,000 tickets.'" But Navarro notes that the amount of people actually "sitting inside Sun Life Stadium is another issue." TiqIQ Data & Communications Dir Chris Matcovich said that seats for the Orange Bowl "were selling for as little as $2 on the secondary market" as of yesterday. He added that it is "the cheapest 'get-in-the-building ticket' of all 38 bowl games." Navarro writes just because ticket demand "isn’t high, it doesn’t mean the game will be a financial failure." TV viewers are what ESPN and bowl organizers "are after most these days." Though the average attendance for bowl games "has declined each of the past six seasons, TV viewership continues to go up, and that is raking in more money every year for the bowl games and the participating schools and conferences." Poms: "I think the opportunity for South Florida to be in the national spotlight on New Year’s Eve is a tremendous window to be in.” Navarro reports MSU "has sold 11,000 of its 15,000 allotted seats," while GT has sold a little more than half of its tickets (MIAMI HERALD, 12/30).
