New Zealand will host two American football exhibition games in March, organizers confirmed on Wednesday. The two-game series will be known as the Southern Bowl and organizers hope it will feature players who fail to make the 53-man rosters of NFL franchises. The games will be played at Auckland's Eden Park on March 5 and Wellington's Westpac Stadium on March 12. Event promoter Craig Douglas, who is the managing director of Douglas Webber Events, has spent the last three-and-a-half years trying to bring American football to New Zealand. While talking to SBD Global, Douglas made it clear that the series is neither sanctioned by nor affiliated with the NFL. "I’m prepared to spend every single dollar that this event turns in putting the event on," he said. "The event itself is costing us around NZ$4.5 million ($3.2M)." Organizers are currently in talks with broadcasters to show the two games, with Douglas citing a "massive interest." Event promoters are also in talks with New Zealand’s national airline, Air New Zealand, about potential partnerships. Douglas, however, said that he wants to keep the product free of over-commercialization, and is focused on making sure that both games are sellouts. "I’ve got a total of 85,000 seats across the two venues and my goal is to make sure that every single one of those seats has a bum in it." Ticket prices for the Southern Bowl range from NZ$49-NZ$129 ($35-$92). Organizers are hoping to create an American football experience with a blimp and jet fighter flyby.
FINDING PLAYERS: U.S. sports agent Jarin Giesler, who is the CEO & founder of Giesler Sports World-Wide, will be in charge of putting the two teams together. He said "our ideal player" would be someone who failed to make the final cut. The tryouts for the exhibition teams will start on Aug. 11 and are scheduled to take place in six different U.S. cities. Giesler has reportedly contacted six NFL franchises about providing a facility for tryouts, including the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets and New York Giants, but there are no confirmed deals with any of the franchises. The biggest names of the Southern Bowl will be on the sideline, as organizers are in contract talks with two Super Bowl-winning coaches to lead the two teams. Giesler did not identify the coaches but said both have won the Super Bowl within the last 15 years. Promoters are also in talks with Dick Vermeil and Herm Edwards, according to Giesler. Edwards had no comment, his spokesperson said. After its inaugural series in New Zealand, the Southern Bowl will move to Australia in ’17. “We want to announce ourselves and we want to showcase the American football product,” Douglas said. He added that China, Japan and the Philippines could be future sites for the series.
