argh1 Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 Associated Press TORONTO -- A plan to bid for a college football bowl game here next year won support Thursday from a committee of the Toronto Council. A U.S.-based group, Sports World Interactive, wants to stage a game between teams from the Big East and Mid-American conferences at SkyDome in December 2005. "One of the key economic benefits is the broadcast contract of the bowl game," said Duncan Ross, executive director of Tourism Toronto. "This will be seen by millions in the U.S.A., and perhaps some of those people will be introduced to Toronto for the first time." The economic development and parks committee, hearing estimates that the game could pump as much as $20 million into the local economy, decided to endorse the bid and send a representative to the NCAA's event-certification meeting next April. The city's support doesn't leave it open to any financial obligations, because Sports World Interactive has to acquire the TV deal, SkyDome contract, teams and sponsors, Ross said. "We're just simply endorsing it and allowing the city to be hosting the event," committee chairman Brian Ashton said. "It's all managed, and all the risks are with the NCAA and the promoting company." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 ga-ga-ga-ga Just as long as governments stick to their guns and aren't forced to give grants to clinch the contract. There is some pretty bad buying of bowls by cities in the US anxious for the image and the tourists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 A bigger worry is that this Bowl Game will get lost in all the other Bowls of the season. The sked is congested as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 quote:Originally posted by DoyleG A bigger worry is that this Bowl Game will get lost in all the other Bowls of the season. The sked is congested as it is. There are only 3-4 bowls that mean anything. Don't know what their names are this year, but they used to be known as the Orange, Rose and Sugar bowls, with the Fiesta Bowl buying its way into this category, but still tacky the way new money always is. The rest are marketing schemes. Toronto hosting a NCAA Bowl game is like Brazil hosting the World Hockey Championships...a novelty and little more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Gordon There are only 3-4 bowls that mean anything. Actually 0 bowls mean anything. Would the Stanley Cup mean anything if a bunch of sports-writers voted for the finalists? With a system like that, even the Leafs could win a Cup every 20 or 30 years. Does Toronto ever get tired of j.erking-off Americans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWay Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Actually 0 bowls mean anything. Would the Stanley Cup mean anything if a bunch of sports-writers voted for the finalists? With a system like that, even the Leafs could win a Cup every 20 or 30 years. Does Toronto ever get tired of j.erking-off Americans? That's pretty much what I thought when I first heard this news. The sad thing is, you know the game will be something awful, like Tulsa vs. Toledo, or something pointless like that, and the game will still triple the average attendance of most Argos games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 I counted 28 Bowl games. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/football/ncaa/bowlschedule.2004/index.html There are a couple of "All-Star" Bowl games as well. Vew few of these games have a sufficent payoff for the teams involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 What on earth were they thinking? People will not go and watch an American college ballgame where no Canadian universities are involved. People in Toronto are not stupid; they can read "money grab" better than some of these promoters ... Torontonians do not want to be Americans ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWay Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 quote:Originally posted by redhat What on earth were they thinking? People will not go and watch an American college ballgame where no Canadian universities are involved. People in Toronto are not stupid; they can read "money grab" better than some of these promoters ... Torontonians do not want to be Americans ... This is the same city that was prepared to piss away nearly a century of history in the Toronto Argos, just for the chance at an NFL team. In other words, you've obviously never lived in Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 quote:Originally posted by JayWay This is the same city that was prepared to piss away nearly a century of history in the Toronto Argos, just for the chance at an NFL team. In other words, you've obviously never lived in Toronto. While I understand what you say and agree with you, I'm just pointing out that this is COLLEGE football that's being proposed. I go to Toronto lots, have friends there, and know what a lot of Torontonians are saying. Plus I get most of your channels (City, Toronto1, Omni, etc. on satellite.) While the NFL gets lots of support there, it IS the NFL (a media marketing machine). NFL = big American city. College football is not very Toronto, eh? But Toronto City Council is ANOTHER issue ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 They could call it the "Conan O'Brien Bowl". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 US College football is pretty big in canada. I know lots of ppl that follow it and i follow it quite a lot. Yea many bowl games do suck, but quite often you get a damn good game out of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metro Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 We might be missing the point here. When the topic was first suggested last winter, I remember hearing that the intent was to invite a couple of northeastern colleges so that many of their supporters would come up and spend a couple of days here. I think it has more to do with attracting tourist dollars than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 Good god. I hope this doesn't happen. If it does and it outdraws the Vanier, whatever respect I have left for the sportsfans of Toronto will go out the window. Back when I was a kid you needed to be 7-4 at least to go to a Bowl. Now it seems like 6-5 will get you there. I totally smell a half-decent MAC team (say Toledo or one of the directional Michigan teams playing a 6-5 Syracuse). If their fans come up in droves for that then that's fine, but if Torontonians get into that something's wrong. And I really like US college football, but there are already too many crap bowls. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 Sadly, I think the game would be a sell out. Torontonians would pretend to know what the hell the Mid-American Conference was. My goal every March is to find 3 Torontonians to tell me where Duke is. Never mind Gonzaga and Georgetown (it's in Georgetown right?), and of course the most popular, the BS FU Northsouthwest State U. Fighting Bananas. This topic comes up every like 2 years. Don't think it will happen. Especially if they want gov't money. Which they say they don't. The Mid-American conference is like Ohio, Michigan, etc. right? And the Big East has mostly schools in the Northeast right? I saw an other article say something about the expect about 30 000 fans from the 2 schools, about 10 000 to be sold to Torontotians, and about 10 000 to be given away (charities, corporate sponsors, etc.). So if 30 000 Americans come up, why not? But if they don't want gov't money, then it would make a lot more sense to hold it somewhere in the U.S. Cause they have nothing to gain here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metro Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Elias Sadly, I think the game would be a sell out. Torontonians would pretend to know what the hell the Mid-American Conference was. My goal every March is to find 3 Torontonians to tell me where Duke is. Never mind Gonzaga and Georgetown (it's in Georgetown right?), and of course the most popular, the BS FU Northsouthwest State U. Fighting Bananas. This topic comes up every like 2 years. Don't think it will happen. Especially if they want gov't money. Which they say they don't. The Mid-American conference is like Ohio, Michigan, etc. right? And the Big East has mostly schools in the Northeast right? I saw an other article say something about the expect about 30 000 fans from the 2 schools, about 10 000 to be sold to Torontotians, and about 10 000 to be given away (charities, corporate sponsors, etc.). So if 30 000 Americans come up, why not? But if they don't want gov't money, then it would make a lot more sense to hold it somewhere in the U.S. Cause they have nothing to gain here. Honestly, I don't see it selling out, or at least I don't see many Torontonians going, especially if tickets are expensive. I think it will be primarily football fans from the two participating colleges. If it was BCS Bowl game, then my opinion would be different, but if it's a mediocre Big East team going up against a mid-level MAC team, I don't think many Torontonians will go crazy over it. I think we're overestimating the interst Torontonians have for NCAA football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 Isnt tourist money spent in Canada good for our economy? Yea businesses are going ot benefit.....thats what they do thats the point of business...to make money.....And for the ppl of Toronto and southern ontario who do like NCAA football its a good oppertunity for them to go see a bowl game. Be it good or bad you dont know if its going to be a good game or not...hell usually half the BCS games suck. If i still lived in Belleville Ontario, i'd think about going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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