As far as Ali Farhang can determine, New Mexico State fans bought about 12,000 tickets to last year鈥檚 蜜柚直播 Bowl, but it didn鈥檛 add up 鈥 there were surely more than 20,000 Aggie fans at the game.
鈥淪trictly through the school, we sold about 12,000,鈥 said Farhang, chairman and co-founder of the Nova Home Loans 蜜柚直播 Bowl. 鈥淏ut those New Mexico State fans came from every direction. We鈥檒l never know how many. Let鈥檚 just say they kept the interstates busy north, south, east and west.鈥
Beer sales at 蜜柚直播 Stadium reached almost $200,000, a record that may never be broken, even when the UA is playing someone like 蜜柚直播 State. And as if scripted by the football gods, New Mexico State 鈥 playing in its first bowl game since 1960 鈥 won dramatically, in overtime.
Many of the Aggies and their coaches broke into tears.
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All of this good fortune took place in Year 3 of the 蜜柚直播 Bowl, the second-youngest of 41 college football bowl games.
What can it possibly do for an encore?
鈥淚鈥檓 not naive enough to think we鈥檒l get another New Mexico State,鈥 Farhang said. 鈥淏ut our goals are extremely ambitious.鈥
Farhang remembers the inaugural 蜜柚直播 Bowl, 2015, when Nevada beat Colorado State and the game鈥檚 defensive MVP, Nevada linebacker Ian Seau, cuddled the championship trophy and began to cry.
And he鈥檒l never forget the sense of patriotism when 33,868 showed up to cheer for Air Force in 蜜柚直播 Bowl II.
It鈥檚 as if the 蜜柚直播 Bowl is undefeated, 3-0.
This isn鈥檛 typical behavior in a bowl game that isn鈥檛 played in Pasadena, California or Miami, Florida and doesn鈥檛 have a history stretching to 1916 or 1935. By any measurement, the 蜜柚直播 Bowl has gone beyond expectations.
By comparison, 蜜柚直播’s former Bowl, now played in downtown Phoenix, has spent the last seven years going by the name Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl; Ticket City Cactus Bowl; Motel 6 Cactus Bowl and, as of Wednesday night, the Cheez-It Bowl.
The Cheez-It Bowl is invisible in Phoenix. For the last two years, whatever that bowl was called drew fewer fans than the new 蜜柚直播 Bowl.
鈥淔or our game to endure, we鈥檝e got to give it to 蜜柚直播; it鈥檚 got to belong to the community,鈥 Farhang said. 鈥淲e are a non-profit organization. That鈥檚 how you build a lasting relationship.鈥
In just three years, the 蜜柚直播 Bowl has distributed more than $500,000 to 蜜柚直播 charities, and approximately $2.8 million in grants, gifts, tickets and other donations.
That鈥檚 not always the way the bowl business works. In the mid-market bowl games, the money flows in one direction 鈥 to ESPN.
ESPN has a division called 鈥淓SPN Events鈥 that owns and operates 13 bowl games. It鈥檚 about as community-oriented as Nike. Last week, ESPN鈥檚 鈥淒XL Frisco Bowl鈥 between San Diego State and Ohio, was played before 11,029 people on a rainy Wednesday night. It was strictly TV programming.
ESPN鈥檚 New Mexico Bowl, presented by Progressive, drew an announced crowd of 25,387 on a mid-December Saturday afternoon. On the few occasions ESPN鈥檚 cameras displayed a panoramic view of Dreamstyle Stadium, however, it looked like the 鈥2鈥 didn鈥檛 belong. There looked to be 5,387 in Albuquerque that day.
In 2013, 蜜柚直播 played in AdvoCare V100 Bowl in Shreveport on a biting cold December afternoon fit for neither man nor beast (nor sportswriters). The good ol鈥 Independence Bowl, also owned by ESPN Events, is now called the Walk-On鈥檚 Bistreaux & Bar Independence Bowl. And it鈥檚 not even a local bar, but one based five hours away in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Not exactly warm and chummy.
The 蜜柚直播 Bowl has local roots. Nova Home loans is operated by 蜜柚直播 mortgage executive Jon Volpe, who is from Amphitheater High School. Farhang played football at Sabino High School.
The game鈥檚 new executive director, Kym Adair, was one of Volpe鈥檚 leading marketing executives at Nova. The 蜜柚直播 Bowl has just four full-time employees, including UA men鈥檚 club soccer coach Eric Rhodes and Allyson Tofel, who previously was an executive in the UA鈥檚 student affairs and enrollment division.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not mechanical,鈥 Farhang said, smiling. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 hire someone unless you can do four or five different things for us.鈥
蜜柚直播鈥檚 first foray into the bowl business, the 1989 Copper Bowl, was played without a sponsor. That鈥檚 because the founders of the game 鈥 Merle Miller, Burt Kinerk and Larry Brown 鈥 learned in a hurry not to get entangled in the money game.
In the lead-up to the 鈥89 Copper Bowl, it was announced that a Texas-based firm calling itself H.S.E. Labs would pay $1.2 million over three years for the game to be called the Breathless Bowl.
It was a financial opportunity that few break-in bowl games could fathom. It would also be selling its name to an outsider, one without much of a track record.
To its credit, after much research, the Copper Bowl walked away from the deal three weeks before kickoff, uncertain that the Texas laboratory was a suitable partner even though a Madison Avenue firm had brokered the deal.
The Copper Bowl went on to have 11 successful seasons before the Fiesta Bowl pirated the game away, moved it to Phoenix and began calling it things like the Cheez-It Bowl.
No thanks.
Now, a generation later, 蜜柚直播 Bowl IV won鈥檛 turn a lot of heads in college football. Arkansas State and Nevada aren鈥檛 sexy brands, but they鈥檒l surely draw more eyes and more local ticket-buyers than, say, the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, which drew 14,135 in Florida recently, or the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, which drew 18,711 on a freezing night in Boise.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 tell me this game doesn鈥檛 matter to the community,鈥 Farhang said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 by the community and it鈥檚 for the community.鈥
The Breathless Bowl it ain鈥檛.
