The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl committee and its stakeholders continue to foster a mutually beneficial relationship between the event and its host country.

To that end, the committee galvanised support to join the Hurricane Dorian Relief effort and contributed a total of $75,000 to the Bahamas Red Cross as they continue to assist those impacted by the storm that ravaged the Northern Bahamas.

Each of the Bahamas Bowl’s participating conferences, the Mid American Conference (MAC) and Conference USA (C-USA) contributed $25,000 while the Orange Bowl Committee contributed an additional $25,000 yesterday in Pompey Square.

“It is with great gratitude that we accept this donation from our partners. We have been on the ground working from day one, but more importantly as we move from the response to the recovery period,” said Caroline Turnquest, the director general.

“We recognise the mammoth task we have ahead of us and it will certainly go a long way to help the families impacted.”

The bowl season will begin in the Bahamas this year as the 2019 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl has been set for 2pm on Friday, December 20 between representatives from the MAC and C-Usa.

Judy MacLeod, C-USA Commissioner, said her conferences’ ties with the Bahamas through a pair of events compelled them to become involved in the restoration efforts.

“C-USA has enjoyed a special relationship here with roles in creation of the bowl game and Battle 4 Atlantis, and we have had teams in both events every year. We will again this year and we are really excited,” she said.

“Our student athletes and fans brings incredible hospitality and warmth to the Bahamian people. We are appreciative of the whole community here and it’s been special for us. We’re all very heartbroken with the devastation.”

Dr Jon Steinbrecker, MAC Commissioner, said the Bahamas Bowl and its committee members continue to seek meaningful ways to positively impact the Bahamian community. “Over the past few months as we watched the devastation of what occurred, we were left with a feeling of hopelessness and great sadness for our friends,” he said.

“When we came to the Bahamas to start this game we talked about asking alot of our partners. We needed the government to assist us and we needed the community to buy in. We needed all sorts of folks to help us with this game and in turn we wanted to be a good partner back and I think we have tried to do that in many different ways. It is our chance to do something for our friends and our colleagues here in the Bahamas.”

Jeff Rubin, president elect of the Orange Bowl committee, said the proximity of his organisation in South Florida to the Bahamas has created bonds over generations.

“We at Orange Bowl felt much like our partners that we could find some way to contribute and give back. There are a number of Bahamians that live in the Miami area, there are a number of people in the South Florida area that come and visit here and will continue to come and visit the great islands of the Bahamas,” he said. “Although we are not participating in the game we felt as though we are among family members so likewise we also wanted to be a part of this great charity and great contribution.”

The longest-running international bowl game in college football history will play its sixth edition once again in Nassau’s 15,000-seat Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, and the game will be broadcast in the United States for the sixth consecutive year by ESPN.

Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager at ESPN, said one of the themes of this year’s broadcast will be to remind viewers that the Bahamas is indeed open for business.

“Considering the challenges the Bahamian people have experienced with the impact of the hurricane, it’s important for us to go back to the United States and make sure everybody understands that the Bahamas is open for business. As we discussed with the minister, the best way to support the Bahamas is by coming and spending money in the country,” he said.

“We view the Bahamas Bowl as a tremendous platform for a variety of reasons and I think this year it will take on a special meaning to remind us in the US to make their plan to come here for their vacations and that will hopefully be a theme throughout our events, with the Battle 4 Atlantis and the Bahamas Bowl.”

For the fourth straight year, the game date falls on a Friday at the start of a long holiday period in the Bahamas.

Each year, thousands of American football fans travel to Nassau to see their universities play in the only current bowl game played outside the United States. The inaugural bowl game in 2014 saw WKU beat Central Michigan 49-48 in a memorable offensive shootout.

In 2015, Western Michigan beat Middle Tennessee 45-31, Old Dominion held off Eastern Michigan 24-20 in the 2016 game, Ohio beat UAB 41-6 in 2017 and FIU rallied to beat Toledo 35-32 in last year’s game.

“The Bahamas is proud to play host to the longest running international bowl game in the United States. I would like to thank our sponsors who have joined hands with the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and bring the excitement of American college football to the islands of The Bahamas,” Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar said.

“Special thanks to the Bahamas Bowl organisers who do such a special job each year growing this prestigious sporting meet. The highest appreciation goes to our title sponsor Elk Grove Village of Chicago under the banner of Maker’s Wanted, whose out of the box thinking has allied this non tourism corporation with the Bahamas. Thanks to ESPN, who with its live television coverage takes the Bahamas to the home of millions of Americans in the dead of winter. Thereby garnering the kind of exposure that boosts the Bahamas and garners our name recognition to stratospheric proportions.”

The minister said the country’s sports tourism product can be one of the key factors in aiding the country’s top industry during a difficult period.

“To sustain the pre-hurricane 12 per cent tourism growth trajectory, the Bahamas must continue to generate tourism numbers involving large numbers of guests,” he said. “By its very nature, sports tourism is an ideal catalyst to grow our tourism business. The Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl annually attracts 9,000 plus visitors and has over the past five years injected some $30 million dollars into our local economy.”

The 2018 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl exceeded the expectations of several international media outlets in its fourth edition. The Bowl was recognised as the No.7 ranked bowl by CBS Sports in their recap of NCAA postseason football play.

The December 21 contest at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium featured FIU claiming the Prime Minister’s trophy with a 35-32 win over Toledo. “This game gave you everything you could ask for between two smaller schools on a Caribbean island during a Friday afternoon,” CBS Sports said.

“There were big plays and a lot of touchdowns, but the final score was a bit misleading. FIU took a 35-25 lead with 41 seconds left to put the game away, but Toledo went 75 yards in 39 seconds to score a touchdown with two seconds left to make the final margin only three points.”

CBS Sports previously projected the Bahamas Bowl ranked at No.31 out of the 39 bowl games.

The average margin of victory in bowl games this season was just over 16 points per game.

According to SportsMediaWatch.com, the Bahamas Bowl registered a 0.56 which included 838,000 viewers and streams. College football TV ratings are obtained from various sources, including network PR, ShowBuzz Daily and Programming Insider. It also stated the 2017 Bahamas Bowl, which featured the Ohio Bobcats against the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers, had 882,000 viewers.

The 2016 game between Old Dominion and Eastern Michigan University (1.4M) and the game debuted in 2015 with Western Michigan and Middle Tennessee State University drawing the most viewers in bowl history (2.1M).

“We are proud to be the opening game of the bowl season during the celebration of 150 years of college football in 2019,” said Richard Giannini, executive director of the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl.

“Keeping our game on Friday allows more Bahamians and their families to attend as the starting event of the holidays, and the later kickoff time will also give more people an opportunity to attend. Our bowl is now a fixture on the Bahamas sporting calendar, it has provided exciting competition in a great Bahamian gameday atmosphere for our fans in attendance, and it continues to be a yearly showcase of the Bahamas on ESPN. Thanks to the assistance of Elk Grove Village and Makers Wanted, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and the Atlantis, we know that the 2019 bowl will let everyone know why ‘‘Bowl Games are Better in The Bahamas’”.