The Celebration Bowl, a post-season game that matches the champions of the MEAC and the SWAC, "will debut" in Atlanta this December, according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. The conferences "have a six-year agreement" to play the bowl in Atlanta, with "the first two years in the Georgia Dome and the next four in the new Falcons stadium that is scheduled to open" in '17. Each conference "will receive" about $1M annually. ESPN "will televise the games nationally on one of its networks." SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp and MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas said that the concept of a bowl game "had been discussed by their conferences for years" -- dating back to '05. Both conferences "decided the benefits of the bowl -- financial and otherwise -- were too great to pass up." Asked to confirm that the game will generate $1M per year for each conference, Sharp said, “Around that, yes. … It’s a good payout, very good.” Tucker notes the payout "will be shared among the leagues’ members." The bowl "will be owned and operated by ESPN Events, a subsidiary of ESPN that also owns 11 other bowl games." The organization “100 Black Men of Atlanta” will "collaborate with ESPN, the conferences, the Georgia Dome and the Falcons on the event" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/19).
