KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced on Thursday the addition of four new bowl games to enter the mix next season. The International Bowl was one of the four additions and will match a second or third selection from the Mid-American Conference with a fourth or fifth selection from the Big East.
The game will take place Jan. 6, 2007 at the Rogers Centre (formerly known as the Sky Dome) in Toronto. It will be televised throughout the U.S. live on ESPN and will kick off at noon.
Bowl officials are predicting up to 20,000 fans will travel from the participating schools for the game and a weekend in Toronto.
“Toronto is a world class destination city within a one day drive for all of our fans. We are projecting fan travel at record levels for the game in Toronto,” Bob Gennarelli, Associate Commissioner for the Mid-American Conference said in a statement released by the International Bowl Staff.
“We are very excited that the Mid-American Conference has another opportunity to a part of the bowl season. It definitely speaks to the level of competition in the conference and the quality of teams the MAC puts on the field year in and year out,” commented Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit. “It is another chance for us to gain exposure to our program and university on a national and now international level.”
Ken Hoffman will serve as the Executive Director for the game. He is also the Executive Director for the highly successful Motor City Bowl that will hold its tenth annual game in Detroit on December 26th. The Motor City Bowl will provide leadership and experience in bowl management for the new game in Toronto.
The location of the International Bowl, Toronto, is an attractive choice to not only fans of the two affiliated conferences but to football fans in general. It is a day's drive for fans of the two schools that will represent their respective conferences and Toronto is a destination city, offering activities in and out of the scope of the game. Bowl officials are predicting up to 20,000 fans will travel from the participating schools for the game and a weekend in Toronto.
Three other bowls were announce on Thursday along with the International Bowl. The Birmingham Bowl and the New Mexico Bowl have been added as well as a fifth Bowl Championship Series game to be helf in Glendale, Ariz. This bowl game will host the national championship game on Jan. 8, 2007.
The Mid-American Conference is also affiliated with the Motor City Bowl, played annually at Ford Field in Detroit and the GMAC Bowl, played at Ladd Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala.
Ticket sales plans for the International Bowl will be announced soon.
