Bowling for Tourists: 'Tis the Season for College Football in Florida

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In 2011-2012, Jacksonville and the Gator Bowl get the Gators, of course, who play Ohio State, which hired former Florida coach Urban Meyer.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of Florida Athletic Association

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FSU plays Notre Dame in the 2011-2012 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Florida State University

In addition to the football game, host regions can offer families and millennials a chance to experience their theme parks, beaches and other local attractions.

In 1945, a group of Jacksonville businessmen contributed $10,000 toward the creation of a New Year's Day college football bowl game in northeast Florida, hoping to stimulate the area's economy during what was then considered a dead period for tourism.

The Gator Bowl Association hosted its first game weeks later on Jan. 1, 1946. It's now the nation's the sixth-oldest bowl game.

"They saw what was going on in Pasadena with the Rose Bowl," said Gator Bowl Association president Rick Catlett, who still has the original minutes from the association's early meetings. "The sole purpose was to bring visiting teams and their families to Jacksonville and provide a boost for the hospitality industry."

The Gator Bowl Association wasn't the first collaboration of Florida business leaders to recognize how a bowl game could provide a tourism boost during the December holiday season.

The Orange Bowl Committee staged the first Orange Bowl game Jan. 1, 1935, a date that ties the South Florida-based event with the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, as the second-oldest bowl games in the nation.

The Capital One Bowl in Orlando, formerly known as the Tangerine Bowl and Citrus Bowl among other names, kicked off Jan. 1, 1947.

The message was clear: Regardless of the region, Florida was a great state to host a bowl game.

At the end of the 2011 college football season, six bowl games were scheduled to take place in Florida – more than any other state. Orlando and the Tampa/St. Petersburg area each host two games, while Jacksonville and South Florida stage the other two.

Warm weather is an obvious draw, and a trip to Florida is attractive to fans of Big Ten teams in the Midwest where temperatures average about 30-40 degrees in the winter. Other states, such as Arizona and California, offer temperate conditions, but no other state has been able to consistently stage multiple well-attended bowl games for 60-plus years.

"When you add up the bands, the players, their families, the boosters and the fans, many levels of our economy benefit," said David Downing, deputy director of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater. "These bowl games underscore the importance of sports tourism to our area."

In addition to the football game, bowl committees and regional convention and visitors bureaus collaborate to host up to a week of family-friendly events for tourists and local residents. This gives regions a chance to highlight their theme parks, beaches and other local attractions.

The Orange Bowl prides itself on its entertainment offerings, from having nationally known bands like Train and the Goo Goo Dolls as halftime entertainment, to its staging of the Orange Drive Miami Beach Music Festival on South Beach a few days before the game.

"The Orange Bowl really focuses on a lot of things, not just football," said Michael Saks, chief operating officer of the Orange Bowl Committee. "We want fans to walk away from this week with a great experience regardless of their interest in football."

Florida's accessibility is also a benefit. Numerous non-stop flights from northern states arrive in Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Jacksonville each day. If a team is playing in Jacksonville, Tampa/St. Pete or Orlando, the close proximity between the regions can make long vacations worthwhile.

Anyone attending the Outback Bowl in Tampa or the Beef O'Brady's Bowl in St. Petersburg can spend a day at Busch Gardens in Tampa, and also visit Walt Disney World, Universal and SeaWorld in Orlando, about a 90-minute drive on I-4.

And while Orlando offers the theme parks, beach lovers at the Capital One and Champs Sports Bowls in Central Florida might enjoy the drive west to St. Petersburg and Clearwater for a day of sun and sand.

"People plan their vacations around the bowl," said the Gator Bowl's Catlett. "That family that comes down here from Michigan, Ohio or Indiana to see their team play might start in Orlando and visit the theme parks, maybe drive up to Daytona Beach and then get to Jacksonville."

And there's plenty that Jacksonville offers, Catlett said. He notes that many visitors aren't aware that Jacksonville has rather pristine beaches of its own. The serene and historical charm of Amelia Island is a 45-minute drive.

Those lasting impressions are important. If families enjoy their time during bowl week, they'll be more likely to come back to Florida if their team makes another bowl game here – or visit on their own.

"From the time they arrive to the time they leave, we want it to be an experience they'll never forget," Saks said.

2011-12 Florida Bowl Games

Beef O'Brady's Bowl
Dec. 20, 8 p.m.
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
Florida International vs. Marshall

Champs Sports Bowl
Dec. 29, 5:30 p.m.
Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, Orlando
Florida State vs. Notre Dame

Outback Bowl
Jan. 2, 1 p.m.
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
Michigan State vs. Georgia

Gator Bowl
Jan. 2, 1 p.m.
EverBank Field, Jacksonville
Ohio State vs. Florida

Capital One Bowl
Jan. 2, 1 p.m.
Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, Orlando
South Carolina vs. Nebraska

Orange Bowl
Jan. 4, 8 p.m.
Sun Life Stadium, Miami
Clemson vs. West Virginia