Detroit bowl game canceled after 29 years

May 29, 2001
7,243
275
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Lots of discussion here in San Diego about the future of the Holiday Bowl. They actually considered moving it to Saudi Arabia! I always enjoyed when it had a BigTen connection but UM Coach Bo S. undermined it. Attendance has been fading even though the new venue at SnapDragon Stadium is nice. With San Diego State joining the reconstituted PAC12 it’s possible there might be a future tie-in. But with the new championship series that may expand for more games these holiday bowl games are endangered and some on the edge of viability will disappear. The games benefit the local economies but major sponsorships are challenging for the marginal bowls and may no longer be worth it. San Diego already has an influx of tourists during bowl season so the Holiday Bowl may soon disappear like Detroit’s bowl game.
 

Fanaticat98

Senior
May 29, 2001
9,068
684
113
Lots of discussion here in San Diego about the future of the Holiday Bowl. They actually considered moving it to Saudi Arabia! I always enjoyed when it had a BigTen connection but UM Coach Bo S. undermined it. Attendance has been fading even though the new venue at SnapDragon Stadium is nice. With San Diego State joining the reconstituted PAC12 it’s possible there might be a future tie-in. But with the new championship series that may expand for more games these holiday bowl games are endangered and some on the edge of viability will disappear. The games benefit the local economies but major sponsorships are challenging for the marginal bowls and may no longer be worth it. San Diego already has an influx of tourists during bowl season so the Holiday Bowl may soon disappear like Detroit’s bowl game.
Bowl games in warm major cities would seemingly be in better shape. That being said, air travel seems like more of a pain and expense these days and moreso around the holidays. Actually the Detroit bowl iterations were a pretty good setup, a driveable distance for most of the B1G vs MAC matchups. And generally, the B1G teams were ones whose fans were happy to go to any bowl game, as is the case for the MAC fans as well.
 
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CatManTrue

All-American
Oct 4, 2008
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Bowl games in warm major cities would seemingly be in better shape. That being said, air travel seems like more of a pain and expense these days and moreso around the holidays. Actually the Detroit bowl iterations were a pretty good setup, a driveable distance for most of the B1G vs MAC matchups. And generally, the B1G teams were ones whose fans were happy to go to any bowl game, as is the case for the MAC fans as well.
Even with the drivable distance, the bowl only sold 27K tickets.
 

Sheffielder

Senior
Sep 1, 2004
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Bowl games in warm major cities would seemingly be in better shape. That being said, air travel seems like more of a pain and expense these days and moreso around the holidays. Actually the Detroit bowl iterations were a pretty good setup, a driveable distance for most of the B1G vs MAC matchups. And generally, the B1G teams were ones whose fans were happy to go to any bowl game, as is the case for the MAC fans as well.
Devil's in the details with this one - Day after Christmas did not make this game especially convenient, and neither did the early afternoon kickoff. Moving the date or the kick time would have been very helpful, but I suspect this is not a bowl game that has a lot of leverage with ESPN.

I woke up at 5 a.m. to do the drive from Chicago, and if I didn't happen to have a friend who was visiting family in Detroit for the holidays, I would have gone to the game alone (or not gone at all).
 
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hdhntr1

All-Conference
Sep 5, 2006
37,658
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Bowl games in warm major cities would seemingly be in better shape. That being said, air travel seems like more of a pain and expense these days and moreso around the holidays. Actually the Detroit bowl iterations were a pretty good setup, a driveable distance for most of the B1G vs MAC matchups. And generally, the B1G teams were ones whose fans were happy to go to any bowl game, as is the case for the MAC fans as well.
Reality is that a whole lot of them may be in danger with the new 12 or whatever it becomes team playoff