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Tampa To Host ACC Football Title Game

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 13, 2007

Updated: 12/13/2007 12:15 am

As people headed toward Tampa International Airport in March at the end of the Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball tournament, they passed a massive billboard erected by the Tampa Bay Sports Commission.

The message: "Commissioner, We Want You Back!"

On Wednesday morning, ACC Commissioner John Swofford called sports commission officials to tell them to prepare for a return visit, awarding Tampa the ACC football championship game in 2008 and 2009.

"I could barely contain my excitement," said Rob Higgins, the commission's executive director.

Tampa, Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, which hosted the first three ACC title games, each made bids to host the game over the next three years. However, with Tampa and Charlotte requesting a minimum of two consecutive years, the league opted to award Tampa the game the next two years and Charlotte in 2010 and 2011.

Swofford said multiple factors worked in Tampa's favor, including its performance as host of the ACC basketball tournament and its large population. It didn't hurt that Tampa is hosting Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009.

"Our reasoning for the order of the selections was largely influenced by the Super Bowl coming to Tampa and the excitement about football in that community for 2008 and 2009," Swofford said. "We think the local support there is very strong."

In its first three years, the ACC title game has not blossomed like other championship games, and declining attendance at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium paved the way for a venue change.

The inaugural game between Florida State and Virginia Tech drew 72,749 in 2005, but this month, only 53, 212 tickets were sold to the Boston College-Virginia Tech title game. There were numerous empty seats in the 76,000-seat stadium, leaving the league embarrassed in front of a national TV audience.

"Our focus is really for these four years," Swofford said. "What that will give us is a seven-year history of the game in three different cities. I think that will tell us a lot about what happens beyond that four-year period as we continue to build the game."

Tampa officials believe three key factors can make the game succeed here compared to Jacksonville: a larger population, a smaller stadium and cheaper tickets. By Wednesday afternoon, the commission had launched a Web site ( www.acctampabay.com) to sell tickets and build interest.

To help convince the 12 ACC schools to award the game to Tampa, commission officials called on Bucs All-Pro cornerback Ronde Barber, a Virginia alumnus. At a meeting with ACC officials last month in Raleigh, N.C., Barber played a key role in the presentation.

"I was just kind of hanging back and hiding in another room," Barber said Wednesday. "They had been sending the ACC a puzzle the past couple of months, which was the logo of Tampa Bay 2008 Football. I had the last piece of the puzzle, and I gave it to them that day.

"Obviously, it worked out well."

As part of the weekend of events, the ACC Fan Fest will take place adjacent to Raymond James Stadium, featuring an array of activities similar to those outside the St. Pete Times Forum during the ACC basketball tournament.

With that success behind them, the commission is focused on making the football game into one.

"The billboard last spring stated, 'Commissioner, we want you back,'" said St. Petersburg attorney Jeff Adams, chairman of the sports commission. "Now that you are back, we're rolling up our sleeves and are hitting the ground running."

Reporter Anwar S. Richardson contributed to this report.

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