The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A LANDMARK event on The Bahamas’ sports tourism calendar, the Bahamas Bowl is set to return in 2021.

The Bahamas Bowl hosted its annual summer summit in preparation for its return this December as it looks to continue the trend of kicking off the NCAA bowl season.

Various stakeholders of the event, including the Bowl Committee, ESPN Events, The Ministry of Tourism, the National Sports and Authority, discussed their expectations for the upcoming edition yesterday at the Thomas A Robinson stadium.

The longest-running international bowl game in college football history, the Bahamas Bowl, will be played at noon on Friday, December 17. After a year away due to the pandemic, the Bahamas Bowl will play its seventh edition in the 15,000-seat Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, broadcast live United States on ESPN.

Clint Overby, vice president of events at ESPN, said his organisation has sought to create a symbiotic relationship between local and international stakeholders.

“On behalf of ESPN and the Walt Disney Company, we’re excited to be back and we’re excited to be in the business of college football,” he said. “Sports has obviously taken a big hit during the pandemic but we want to play a role in that recovery with college football, college basketball and the entirety of the sports enterprise. We believe that staging a game here in The Bahamas is a part of that recovery.”

Dionisio D’Aguilar, Minister of Tourism and Aviation, said the game is transitioning into a staple of the Bahamian Christmas season. “After all we’ve endured these past 16 months, a wilderness of sorts across every segment of our tourism product, we are with great excitement looking forward to this year’s bowl game,” he said. “Needless to say, we have all been deeply impacted by this terrible pandemic and we are still reeling from its effects, but in life, there is always hope. And the return of the Bahamas Bowl represents just that. Hope for our partners, hope for the players, their families and friends, hope for our visitors, and hope for Bahamians.”

He noted the event serves multiple purposes, including creating business opportunities and exposure for the Bahamas. “As the longest running international bowl game in college football history, there is no doubt in my mind that the Bahamas Bowl is among the events that have contributed to this island destination becoming the international sports event mecca of the Caribbean,” D’Aguilar said.

As with the first six editions, the 2021 Bahamas Bowl will feature teams from Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference.

Said Jon Steinbrecher, MAC commissioner: “Thank you for opening the islands for us and we are so thrilled to be here. We had our football media day several weeks ago in Detroit and all the student athletes we had there had their picture next to the Bahamas Bowl poster, they’re all ready to come here.”

Brian Mackin, C-USA deputy commissioner, added: “We have a very large conference in over 10 states with 14 teams and they fight to come to The Bahamas to play. They want to be in this bowl game, they really do. Conference USA is committed to coming down here and making this the best bowl possible. We are excited, we will come in droves and we will put economic development back on the table.”

Each year, American football fans travel to Nassau to see their universities play in the only bowl game played currently 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, FIU rallied to beat Toledo 35-32 in 2018 and Buffalo defeated Charlotte 31-9 in 2019.

“We are thrilled to return to the bowl lineup and to be the opening game of Bowl Season this year,” said Bahamas Bowl executive director Richard Giannini.

“The bowl has been a fixture on the Bahamas sporting calendar since 2014, and the game has provided tremendous competition for our partner conferences at Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference.

“We have a fun gameday atmosphere for our fans who attend the bowl, and it is a yearly showcase of the beauty of the Bahamas on ESPN.

“We know that the 2021 bowl will remind everyone why ‘Bowl Games are Better in The Bahamas’.”

For more information on the 2021 Bahamas Bowl, visit BahamasBowl.com. The game is one of 17 college bowl games owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN.