ESPN owns and operates more than a dozen bowl games through its ESPN Events arm, and they’ve now added the Miami Beach Bowl to their collection.
That’s according to the American Athletic Conference, which announced the news on Friday:
The American Athletic Conference, which created the Miami Beach Bowl and has owned and operated the event since 2014, announced Friday that the game has been purchased by ESPN. The AAC will continue its affiliation with the bowl game; it’s expected Conference USA, the MAC and Sun Belt will do the same.
It’s going to need a new name, though, as ESPN announced the game will be moving to Frisco, Texas:
The Miami Beach Bowl is leaving Miami after three seasons and will be played in Frisco, Texas, starting this year, industry sources told ESPN on Friday.
The game would be played at Toyota Stadium, a Major League Soccer stadium, which has a capacity of 20,500. The facility in the Dallas suburb annually hosts the FCS championship game each January
The tie-ins will indeed remain similar, with an AAC team taking on a Sun Belt team the next two seasons, and a MAC team the season after that.
Why would the AAC make this move? Well, here’s the big reason:
Owning the game itself was likely not a profitable venture for the AAC, and now they can pass those responsibilities off to ESPN, while retaining a postseason spot for a conference member.
ESPN loves adding inventory for bowl season, and they must think there’s something workable with this game. It’s also interesting that it’s leaving an MLB stadium and going to an MLS stadium. The novelty of seeing college football at a baseball stadium has worn off a bit, especially a stadium with no history of its own. It’s one thing if it’s at Wrigley, or Fenway, or even the new Yankee Stadium.
But no one cares about seeing a game at Marlins Park, and the logistical issues created make for a less-than-stellar crowd experience. At least a soccer stadium is shaped properly.
Still, we’ll always have all the wonderful memories the Miami Beach Bowl offered us.
Though that list really just boils down to the BYU-Memphis brawl:
RIP, random Miami bowl game.