A few months or so after it was first reported as a likelihood, the American Football Conference has announced just what college football needs: yet another bowl game.
In a press release, the AAC introduced what will be called the Miami Beach Bowl. The game will be played beginning in December of 2014 and will be held at Marlin Park, the home stadium of MLB’s Miami Marlins.
The AAC, which states it will hire a full-time operations staff that will be based in Marlins Park, will be tied to the bowl on a yearly basis. The conferences will face teams from either Conference USA, the Sun Belt or the MAC. The release adds that "[i]nstitutions from other conference across the country will also have the ability to participate.”
“We are excited to bring postseason football back to Miami,” AAC commissioner Mike Aresco said in a statement. “And we are equally excited to be able to provide this experience to our student-athletes and fans. The Miami Beach Bowl fulfills our goal of providing postseason opportunities in desirable locations that are easily accessible for our fans. This state-of-the art venue will provide a great stage for our student-athletes and institutions.”
As for how the stick-and-ball park will be configured for a football game, the Miami Beach Bowl shared this photo via its newly-created Twitter account to give you an idea:
With the creation of this postseason game, the AAC now has future tie-ins with (take a deep breath) the Military Bowl, the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg, the BBVA Compass Bowl, the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, the Boca Raton Bowl and the Bahamas Bowl. The latter two bowl games are also new creations as the non-Big Five conferences seek to avoid being diminished in the postseason thanks to the fallout from the new College Football Playoff system.
(Photo credit: Miami Marlins)