by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
The Gator Bowl Association held its first fall meeting this week and there was a challenge: they need to sell 12,000 more tickets locally for the annual football game.
Compass Bank president Bob White, the GBA chair-elect, told the 70 directors and guests that sales have been good to date but more are needed to meet the number mandated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
“We need every board member to make his or her commitment for sales,” White told the board at its meeting at the Marriott Resort at Sawgrass. “And we’ll be assured of another big crowd. Board members have made a commitment to sell tickets; we need everyone to step up and fulfill that commitment.”
The NCAA mandates that bowls sell a certain amount of tickets locally, leaving the others for the participating schools. Last year’s game between Florida State and Virginia Tech was a near-sellout.
The Gator Bowl will be on New Year’s Day and this year’s chairman, Susan Hamilton of CSX, said that everything is in place.
“We have contracts with our major sponsor, Toyota, with our network, NBC, and with our conferences [the Atlantic Coast and the Big East] for the next four years,” she said. “We are one of three bowls on network television on New Year’s Day. We’re in great shape.”
The conference contracts are particularly important to fans, as they guarantee the local bowl the first selection after the big-bowl Bowl Championship series makes its choices. It also allows Notre Dame to replace a Big East team, if the GBA decides.
The Tuesday meeting opened the season for the board, which will meet monthly to report on ticket sales and help plan events associated with the game.
The association also announced it would revive the “Little Gator Bowl” for youth teams which was discontinued over a decade ago.
GBA president Rick Catlett, noting that he played in a Little Gator Bowl when he was 12 years old, said that as many as seven age groups will compete. The date hasn’t been decided.