Renewal agreements with the FedEx Orange Bowl, the Chick-fil-A Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl, the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl and the EagleBank Bowl along with new partnerships with the Brut Sun and Advocare 100 Independence Bowl—a pair of bowl games with 110 years of combined experience—headline the 2010-13 bowl partnerships announced Thursday by Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford.
The agreements, which will be in force for the 2010 season and conclude after the 2013 campaign, feature partnerships with eight bowl games including serving as the host team of the FedEx Orange Bowl of the Bowl Championship Series in Miami. As part of the BCS, the FedEx Orange Bowl, now in its 76th year, will be televised by ESPN after each of the 2010-13 seasons.
“We are delighted to have the FedEx Orange Bowl continue to serve as the home of the ACC Champion,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “The relationship between the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Orange Bowl Committee is truly a special one.”
The order of bowl selection will be: the FedEx Orange Bowl or BCS followed by the Chick-fil-A Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl, the Brut Sun Bowl, the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, the Advocare 100 Independence Bowl and the Eagle Bank Bowl.
“We are extremely excited to announce our bowl partnerships for the 2010-13 seasons,” said Swofford. “These bowl partners provide the opportunity to play unique opponents in quality destinations, while also significantly increasing revenue for our institutions.”
The Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, will once again receive the first selection of ACC teams after the BCS selections. The ACC has been affiliated with the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and its predecessor, the Peach Bowl, since 1991. The game will again match the ACC with a Southeastern Conference opponent and will be nationally televised by ESPN.
The Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., will then have the second pick of ACC teams after the BCS selections. The ACC has been affiliated with the Champs Sports Bowl and its predecessor, the Tangerine Bowl, since its inception in 2001. The Champs Sports Bowl will match the ACC with the first selection of teams from the Big East Conference after the BCS, or Notre Dame. The Champs Sports Bowl will be nationally televised by ESPN.
Joining the ACC bowl structure for the first time is the Brut Sun Bowl, in El Paso, Tex., which will have the runner-up from the ACC Football Championship Game, if available, or the third selection of league teams after the BCS picks. Though new to the ACC’s bowl structure, the Brut Sun Bowl–the nation’s fourth-oldest post-season bowl game–is celebrating its 76th year of existence. The Brut Sun Bowl will match an ACC team with an opponent from the Pac-10 Conference. The Brut Sun Bowl is currently in the midst of the longest, continuous television agreement in bowl history, having been televised every year since 1968 by CBS-TV. Though new as a Conference partner, ACC teams have made 10 appearances in the Sun Bowl through the years, the last being in 1994.
One of the nation’s most successful bowl games—the Meineke Car Care Bowl—will continue in the ACC Bowl structure with the fourth selection after the BCS. Based in Charlotte, N.C., the Meineke Car Care Bowl has never drawn a crowd of less than 51,000 and has had three sell-out crowds in excess of 73,000 fans in its seven years of existence. The ACC has been affiliated with the Charlotte-based game since its inception for the 2002 football season. The Meineke Car Care Bowl will be televised nationally by ESPN and the opponent will be from the Big East Conference.
Beginning its fifth year in partnership with the ACC, the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., will have the fifth selection of conference teams after the BCS. The ACC began its formal relationship with the Music City Bowl in 2006, and has had a team in the Bowl game every year since 2005. The Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl will be televised nationally by ESPN.
Joining the ACC’s bowl structure for the first time is the Advocare 100 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. Currently in its 34th year of existence; the Independence Bowl will have the sixth selection of ACC teams after the BCS. Though new to a partnership with the Conference, ACC teams have made six appearances in the bowl, with the last occurring in 1994. The Independence Bowl will match an ACC team with the third selection from the Mountain West Conference. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
Completing the ACC’s Bowl structure for the 2010-13 seasons, the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C., will have the seventh selection of ACC teams after the BCS. In just its second season, the EagleBank Bowl hosted Wake Forest last year in its inaugural game. The EagleBank Bowl will match an ACC team with a team from Conference USA in 2010, with Navy in 2011, Army in 2012, and a team from the Big 12 in 2013.
Additionally, in the event that the ACC has nine bowl eligible teams, the Conference has made a conditional arrangement to send its eighth selection after the BCS to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, if either of that Bowl’s primary partners are not bowl eligible. The ACC has enjoyed its partnership with the Emerald Bowl and potential opponents for the bowl in the next cycle include representatives from the Pac-10, the WAC, Army or Navy.
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