What was your favorite memory of the DreamHouse New Mexico Bowl? Perhaps that it existed at all?
Just three weeks after a deal was announced for the aptly named game to be sponsored by a local production company, ESPN has pulled the plug on the sponsorship according to the Albuquerque Journal. Why would the broadcaster-turned-bowl operator do such a thing? Well as it turns out, that original deal was with a company that wasn’t really much of a company locally.
“We notified DreamHouse today that we have terminated its title sponsorship agreement with the New Mexico Bowl,” ESPN spokeswoman Anna Negron said in an email to the Journal. “We remain focused on ensuring a quality experience for fans.”
The move to sever ties comes following an expose of the company by the Journal that revealed that DreamHouse had not gotten a business license with the city and that its CEO was facing several legal issues related to unpaid debts. Just as bizarre, the company was supposed to have a huge film studio in Albuquerque but was actually based out of a local residence instead.
While it’s not known just how much the bowl was going to be paid as part of the deal, such sponsorships typically run in the six-figures.
The game, which is owned and operated by ESPN Events, typically is one of the first postseason games of the year in mid-December and pits a Conference USA side against a Mountain West team. It has been played annually since 2006 at the University of New Mexico’s Dreamstyle Stadium in Albuquerque.