There's not a more beautiful stadium In Texas.

Conveniently located. Well sized for Bowl games.

I think the lack of a nearby international airport hurts us.

Also, I imagine the bowls get a cut of the concession revenue, and the lack of alcohol sales probably hurts any pitch Baylor would make to a bowl committee

That's just my speculation. Maybe it's simply that the powers that be aren't pursuing it for whatever reason

There are probably a lot of factors - airport is small, number of quality hotel rooms is increasing but still not as much as larger metro areas (Waco metro area has about 5,500 hotel rooms and probably only about 1K of those could be considered quality hotel rooms), limited local corporate support for it, there are already so many bowls, Texas already has several bowls…to name of a few of the possible reasons.

Bowls are not in small cities.

Harrison Bergeron said:

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Bowls are not in small cities.

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Plus, I imagine getting a tour of the Dr. Pepper Museum would not be a major draw for visiting teams and their fans.

The only small cities to host a bowl are Boise, El Paso, Montgomery, and Shreveport. All have a much larger airport than Waco. Shreveport has also been hosting the Independence Bowl since 1976 and serves a larger rural area as the major city. Waco is ~90mins between DFW and Austin. Montgomery and Boise are state capitals as well and serve larger areas like Shreveport.


Not counting Mobile, Conway, Boca Raton, or the Bahamas as they are gateways to beaches if not on a beach.

If the Waco airport started offering a bunch more destinations and the city, local businesses like Texas Life, and the university all came together to make a push for a bowl then maybe they'd be considered after finding proper funding.

Or the Dr Pepper bowl would be a reasonable name. We are very blessed with a gorgeous stadium.

Dr Pepper would have to agree to sponsor it. Doubt they plan to drop a conference championship or two for a low level bowl, and as dumb as they are they'd probably rather keep the fans town ads.

It would be great if Waco hosted a bowl but it's a pipe dream right now that would require a good deal of work.

As big of a fan as I am, including being a fan of bowl season, the last thing that's needed is another low end bowl game regardless of where it's located. There are already instances of 5-7 teams getting into bowls to fill the already ridiculous number of bowl spots available as it is, and there are too many bowls that can't even draw 20K fans. We're already over saturated with meaningless bowl games.

Johnny Bear said:

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As big of a fan as I am, including being a fan of bowl season, the last thing that's needed is another low end bowl game regardless of where it's located. There are already instances of 5-7 teams getting into bowls to fill the already ridiculous number of bowl spots available as it is, and there are too many bowls that can't even draw 20K fans. We're already over saturated with meaningless bowl games.

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With the modern trend of most top players choosing to sit out unless their team is in the playoffs, pretty much all bowl games are meaningless in the grand scheme of things that aren't playoff games. That's how ESPN wants it. Their talking heads continually push playoffs playoffs playoffs playoffs and nothing else matters. A bowl game's true value to teams is in having extra practices and maybe getting some momentum going into the off-season

Positive Bear said:

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Or the Dr Pepper bowl would be a reasonable name. We are very blessed with a gorgeous stadium.

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I will settle for getting the Dr Pepper Tournament back at the new Foster Pavilion.

I say this in all sincerity, this idea should be pitched to Chip Gaines.
He is a huge Baylor sports nut. If anybody has the contacts and knowledge to get this idea in motion, it would be him.

It's rarely talked about but coaches love those extra practices you mention. It's like mini spring ball before spring. If anything the opt outs allow for solid reps for the new guys looking to play next year. It's 15-30 days of extra practice that non bowl teams don't get.

Fans might bemoan the "toilet bowl" but coaches love the extra practice and players like having a day or 2 at the beach or a theme park.

One could argue there's too many bowls but everyone involved wants them to much to shrink or go away. Coaches want the practice and ESPN wants to show them because even a mid tier MAC team vs a mid tier Conference USA team beats beats random programming.

Probably the main reason is that Chip & Joanna don't want to sponsor it.

Why are you against fun?

https://theathletic.com/3971749/2022/12/05/bowl-games-college-football/

Paywall

It's not about what any of us think, it's about what the people with the money & the TV people think.

Stinkin paywall.

Basically the article said if you don't want to watch, don't, but the schools & players are having fun. CFB is awesome & more = better.

& that wasn't directed at you historian. I'm a fan of yours. Several people said 'too many bowls' so it was for all of that.

I do think there's a point there, 6-6 is a low standard, but on the other hand…why should I be against fun?

Beaneater said:

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& that wasn't directed at you historian. I'm a fan of yours. Several people said 'too many bowls' so it was for all of that.

I do think there's a point there, 6-6 is a low standard, but on the other hand…why should I be against fun?

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Thanks for the support. I agree with you & the article. Actually, I understand the argument about to many bowls but it's also harmless & almost everyone loves them. Those who don't do not have to watch. It's not like they want to watch Christmas Story a dozen more times each year.

historian said:

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Paywall

It's not about what any of us think, it's about what the people with the money & the TV people think.

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Here:

https://archive.vn/20221205175748/https://theathletic.com/3971749/2022/12/05/bowl-games-college-football/

Thanks!!

Great essay & he's correct.

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Great essay & he's correct.

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He is correct, in this sense: If that many people would watch that many college games during December and January, the obvious problem is that the season is not long enough. 14-16 game seasons and an expanded playoff would take care of that.

CorsicanaBear said:

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Quote:

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Great essay & he's correct.

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He is correct, in this sense: If that many people would watch that many college games during December and January, the obvious problem is that the season is not long enough. 14-16 game seasons and an expanded playoff would take care of that.

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Playoff expansion is coming, maybe as soon as 2023. I don't expect they will expand the season longer than it is. It is already 14 weeks: 12 games, 1 bye, & conference championship games. Not many teams are going to want to play in the middle of August especially in places like Texas.

The Magnolia Bowl does have a pretty nice ring to it.

Why is there not a strip club in Waco called stripper upper?

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Not many teams are going to want to play in the middle of August especially in places like Texas.

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They don't need to be playing in August. They need top be playing regular season games until the end of december. That's the lesson from bowl viewership. Playoffs in january.

My main complaint against bowls is not the bowls fault. I have them on all holiday season. It's that the 4 team playoff killed some of the shine of the bowls. You can still get an awesome Bahamas Bowl or New Mexico Bowl but take the Cotton Bowl this year. USC vs Tulane(go Green Wave). Tulane is pumped but if they win the media and USC folk will just say USC didn't really try because they missed the playoff.

Just another example of the media bias or over analyzing or making excuses. The media's propaganda is often so blatant that people pay less attention to it. Except maybe to mock them.

And any time a blue blood fans make such a lame excuse for their team losing, whether Alabama or USC fans, they should be called out on it. Of course they were playing to win. If they weren't, they had no business being in whatever "inferior" bowl game they were in. That's the attitude of losers who definitely do not deserve to be in the playoffs.

Besides what delusional USC fans would say that? They have never been in the playoffs? What makes them think they should be in now when they lost to Utah twice? They should be grateful for a chance to play a scrappy Tulane team. That kind of arrogance often leads to losses.