Dallas City Council Gives ESPN $300,000 For CFB Bowl Game

The Dallas City Council approved "giving $300,000 to ESPN for a college-football bowl game to be played at Fair Park the day after Christmas," according to Robert Wilonsky of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. That game was known as the Heart of Dallas Bowl until it was "rebranded in August as the First Responder Bowl, with water-cleanup company Servpro serving as the title sponsor." Yesterday's vote was "razor-thin: 8-6 in favor." Last year's Heart of Dallas Bowl was "poorly attended: Announced attendance was only 20,507." However, city officials in March said that "actual attendance was closer to 9,300." The $300,000 lets Dallas keep the game for two more years, during which ESPN (which runs the event) and the Dallas Sports Commission will "work to bring in the better teams -- and bigger crowds -- council members have been demanding" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/13).