April 21, 2009
Second Annual St. Petersburg Bowl to be Played in Prime Time Dec. 19 on ESPN
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – ESPN Regional Television announced today that the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl will be played Saturday, Dec. 19, at Tropicana Field. The game, in its second year, will feature a team from the BIG EAST Conference and one from Conference USA and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Kickoff for the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl is set for 8 p.m. ET.
“After an outstanding introduction in the St. Petersburg community in our first year, we are thrilled to bring the game to the fans in prime time in its second year,” said Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN Regional Television. “We look forward to the continued growth of this event in the great destination city of St. Petersburg and to giving the teams, their coaches and staffs, as well as the fans another unforgettable experience.”
“We are especially excited to present this terrific event in prime time this year,” said Brett Dulaney, executive director of the St. Petersburg Bowl. “Last year, we were thrilled to have the people of St. Petersburg welcome the inaugural bowl with an outpouring of enthusiasm, and we look forward to that again as we continue to develop this event together into a top postseason college football event.”
In the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl on Dec. 20, 2008, South Florida, representing the BIG EAST, defeated C-USA representative Memphis 41-14 at Tropicana Field.
The St. Petersburg Bowl is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television, which markets and owns five other bowl games — the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, MAACO Bowl Las Vegas, New Mexico Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl and Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
Tickets to the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl are expected to go on sale this summer. For more information, visit the official Web site at
www.stpetersburgbowl.com
ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership
The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 telecasts of sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. – BIG EAST, SEC, Big 12, Mid-American, Sun Belt, WAC).
ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); St. Petersburg Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.) ; and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Charleston Classic (S.C.); Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); O’Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic (Oklahoma City); SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; and the ESPNU BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.
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Media contacts:
Megan Danner, Brock Communications, (813) 961-8388 or megan@brockcomm.com
Jenny Zimmerman, ESPN, (407) 566-2213 or jennifer.j.zimmerman@espn.com
