Kickoff: Bowl Season Official Newsletter – November 2022

MILESTONE THREADS

Bowl Bound Shirts — Celebrating Bowl Eligibility While Taking Care of the Environment

By KEVIN M c NAMARA

As Dino Babers walked to the microphone for the start of his post-game press conference after a convincing win over 15th ranked North Carolina State in mid-October, the Syracuse coach couldn’t hide his excitement.

For the first time in four seasons, he knew his Orange were headed for Bowl Season.

“There’s a lot of goals that are still out there but there’s one goal that’s been checked,” Babers said. “It’s going to be interesting to see where this family can go as we move down the road.”

To help commemorate Syracuse’s first 6-0 start since 1987, the players received what’s become the memento that all college football players crave: a Bowl Bound shirt. Syracuse’s hot start has captivated the program’s fans and Bowl Season’s

‘Bowl Bound’ shirts quickly became a hot item not only on the backs of the Orange players but allaround Central New York.

As the Orange celebrated becoming bowl eligible, Jay Hertwig owned a smile as well. Hertwig the Senior Vice President of Commercialization for Unifi Manufacturing, a Greenboro, N.C. textile production company that’s part of a unique partnership along with Vapor Elemental Wear that’s producing the new,‘Bowl Bound’ performance shirts. Unifi, the makers of REPREVE® — a sustainable fiber composed of recycled plastic water bottles, is changing the game with Vapor, the official partner for Bowl Season’s apparel campaign which focuses on both elite performance and sustainability.

“Who can’t get excited about college football?,” Hertwig hypothetically pondered. “Football is king and

BOWL BOUND BOWL BOUND

a lot of our employees are football fans who are excited to be a part of this campaign. Sports are a great platform to create awareness of our products.”

And let’s face it — celebrating around college football is a lot of fun.

The Bowl Bound shirts first appeared as part of victorious locker rooms last fall.

Bowl Season Executive Director Nick Carparelli said Bowl Season saw an opportunity to elevate the overall campaign and shine a light on sustainability in the environment at the same time. REPREVE sustainable fiber is shipped to Vapor in Charleston, S.C., where it creates the sustainable active-wear for all

bowl-bound teams with performance shirts, hoodies and quarter-zips in men, women and youth sizes. Each shirt is made with 16 recycled water bottles.

“Bowl Season is a special time of year for College Football. We are excited to not only be a part of it, but also provide premium sustainable apparel to each school that qualifies for a bowl game," said Jackson Burnett, president of Vapor Elemental Wear.

Carparelli said the success of the Bowl Bound shirt program a year ago was a rallying point for all the bowls, but he was especially excited to see how players and coaches embraced the product.

“We are excited to not only be a part of it, but also provide premium sustainable apparel to each school that qualifies for a bowl game. ”

– JACKSON BURNETT Vapor Elemental Wear President

PUNCHING THEIR TICKET: UCF became bowl eligible with its sixth win on Oct. 29 vs. Cincinnati.

BOWL BOUND BOWL BOUND

BOWL BOUND BOWL BOUND

“We thought it was a new and creative way to promote Bowl Season and extend our brand beyond the actual few weeks where we’re playing the bowl games,” Carparelli said. “In sports we see all sorts of celebrations where teams win and get a shirt. Well becoming bowl eligible is a big deal for football programs around the country and a cause for celebration. This has generated authentic enthusiasm with the student-athletes and now with REPREVE and Vapor as partners, the program has gone to a new level. It’s really been a home run.”

The fact that the Bowl Bound shirts are made of recycled water bottles certainly is an eye opener. As REPREVE’s Hertwig says, “anyone you talk to always asks ‘this shirt used to be a bottle?’ They’re amazed. College kids really care about sustainability. They really get it.’’

In a nod to the pervasive excitement around college football and Bowl Season, it probably

shouldn’t come as a surprise that Hertwig owns deep football roots. His uncle, Craig Hertwig, was an All-American offensive lineman at Georgia who played for the Lions and Bills in the NFL. Jay was on the Bulldog squad from 1989-92 and the Hertwig family remains major fans of the program.

“I’ve seen a host of bowl games — the Sugar, the Peach, the Citrus,” Hertwig said. “My favorite was the 2018 Rose Bowl Game. I took my son and we saw Georgia play Oklahoma. It was an unbelievable shootout (a 54-48 Bulldog overtime win) and just a great, memorable experience.”

This Bowl Season, Hertwig and other fans of successful college football teams can join the fun and help the environment by wearing their ‘Bowl Bound’ shirts and performance gear.

After all, bowl eligibility is the first step to Bowl Season. Time to celebrate the accomplishment and wear it (literally).

RIDING A WAVE: As one of the first teams in the country to win six games, Tulane became Bowl Bound for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

BOUNCE BACK

Bowls Games Affected by the Pandemic Look to Return Better than Ever this Year

By KEVIN M c NAMARA

As Steve Beck sat in a conference room at the Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C. last December, he felt his partners at the Military Bowl had somehow dodged the COVID-19 bullet.

For several days, players, coaches and staff members from the East Carolina and Boston College football teams had enjoyed the best of what the nation’s capital offers. There was a visit to the Museum of African American History. They presented care packages to service members and welcomed Medal of Honor recipients to town. They enjoyed the history of the Naval Academy and Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

Yet when an East Carolina official excused himself from that Dec. 26, 2021 meeting of bowl officials, team representatives and ESPN a day before kickoff, Beck’s antenna raised. When he was waved out of the meeting, Beck feared the worst.

“We really thought we had dodged the bullet, so to speak, but East Carolina received a call from Boston College saying they could not play. It was 26 hours before kickoff,” Beck said. “It really was a strange time.”

Boston College’s team had been in the D.C. area for several days, happily choosing to skip the Christmas holiday with their families and instead prepare for the Military Bowl. Yet a combination of growing COVID cases, injuries and opt-outs had ravaged the Eagles’ roster, leaving as many as 40 players unavailable.

With next to no time available to find a replacement opponent, Beck had no choice but to cancel the Military Bowl for a painful second-straight

season. Like many other bowls, the 2020 game had never got off the ground due to widespread COVID.

The Military Bowl wasn’t alone. Up in Boston, the 2021 Fenway Bowl was canceled due to COVID cases within Virginia’s program. The Cavaliers were scheduled to face SMU in the inaugural bowl game at Fenway Park. Out in San Diego, Mark Neville and his staff at the Holiday Bowl were preparing to travel over to the first game ever set inside Petco Park matching North Carolina State and UCLA.

“I had my backpack on ready to leave my office for Petco Park and the athletic director at UCLA (Martin Jarmond) called and said his team could not play due to COVID cases. That changed our day, that’s for sure,” Neville said.

Fox television reported that UCLA’s defense had sustained a wave of positive COVID cases in the two days leading up to the game. The Bruins had no choice but to pull out of the game.

“It was devastating for a lot of people,” Neville said. “I went to speak to the N.C. State team at their hotel the next morning and it was horrible, just awful.”

Now nearly a year later, Beck and his staff are planning for another Military Bowl presented by Peraton in Annapolis. Neville says the city of San Diego can’t wait for the 43rd annual San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl. Both games are set for December 28. The City of Boston will finally enjoy the very first Wasabi Fenway Bowl on December 17.

“In a way we look at last year as obviously very unfortunate, but also a great dress rehearsal,” Neville says. “It was going to be our first time at Petco. Now we know the game will look great in that stadium. It was going to be our first game on the Fox Network and they’re all set to go. It’s our first time matching teams from the PAC-12 and the ACC.”

Like many bowls, the Military and Holiday games also did not occur in 2020 due to the pandemic. The pain of missing two straight years of games has been replaced with the excitement of delivering on all the events that surround Bowl Season.

For example, the Military Bowl is the centerpiece of a nonprofit foundation that also operates the D.C. Touchdown Club and Patriot Point, a beautiful retreat on Maryland’s Eastern Shore that welcomes recovering service members, their families and caregivers. Without a sold-out football game every December to fill the foundation’s coffers, Beck and his team scrambled for the last two years to raise money for Patriot Point through the Touchdown Club. Patriot Point welcomed nearly 50 veteran retreats last year.

The Military Bowl also proudly welcomes Medal of Honor recipients to the game. When the news broke in that ill-fated meeting last December, External Relations Director Josh Barr said his mind instantly jumped to the Medal of Honor soldiers traveling to Washington for the game.

“It was devastating for a lot of people. I went to speak to the N.C. State team at their hotel the next morning and it was horrible, just awful.”

– MARK NEVILLE

CEO, San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl

“I knew I had to contact whoever hadn’t left their home states as soon as possible,” Barr said. “One from South Dakota, Mike Fitzsimmons, had just left the airport. We welcomed him into town anyways and had a great dinner and he was able to tour Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Memorial the next day.”

The Medal of Honor recipients are booked for a return to Washington and some choice seats at this year’s Military Bowl.

In San Diego, Neville says that many of his supporters have followed the Holiday Bowl since its inception in 1978. They’re looking forward to this year’s game more than ever before.

“They really took the cancellation last year hard because I think we all needed a fun day and a great game, right?’’ he said. “But we turned the page as quickly as we could last year because we had to. San Diego is fired up, our volunteers are fired up.”

Bowl Season Executive Director Nick Carparelli said he’s hoping all of the bowl games that haven’t enjoyed an event for the last two seasons are ready for huge success.

“These teams of people work all year to bring a bowl game to their community and to have this happen once is really difficult. To have it happen a second time is unheard of,” Carparelli said. “The good news for these bowl games is because they are so important to their communities, their sponsors and supporters have really rallied and come together to make 2022 a special year.”

Parades are scheduled in Annapolis and the Port of San Diego. Tickets to the game and pre-game tailgate parties are selling fast. San Diego’s famous KGB Sky Show is set to light up the skyline over Petco Park with a post-game spectacular fireworks display.

“We’re really excited to have a game to prepare for,” said the Military Bowl’s Beck. “Everyone involved here, including our veterans and supporters, are ready for a great event. We can’t wait to find out what teams we’ll welcome here but I can tell you whoever is fortunate enough to come here is really going to have a great time.”

Partnership Spotlight

The Brandr Group is the leading agency in group licensing programs, with rights to over 70 college athletic programs and their student-athletes in the name, image and likeness category including the biggest brands in college sports. TBG partners with prominent brands, colleges, sponsors, corporate trademarks, athletes, and events to cultivate, diversify and monetize intellectual property through professional brand management and licensing endeavors.

In its partnership with Bowl Season, TBG continues to deliver the student-athlete voice in developing custom NIL activation programs for brands.

Riot Creative Imaging is a premier color graphics production agency that delights its customers by bringing their designs to life in remarkable ways. Their national operation is staffed with skilled professionals who produce superior results for customers representing some of the world’s best-known brands, including the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the Rose Bowl Game and ESPN. Riot Creative produced the 2022 Bowl Season Annual Report, and specializes in printed media supporting bowl game events such as media day, VIP events, pre-game, hotels, fundraisers and game day. Contact Jerry Garland for more information on how Riot can help you: 312-890-9507.