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Outback Bowl Chief Has A Winning Strategy

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By TED JACKOVICS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 30, 2007

TAMPA - It's called the Outback Bowl, named for the primary sponsor, Outback Steakhouse. But Tuesday's football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Wisconsin Badgers at Raymond James Stadium might be considered a Throwback Bowl of sorts.

Many of the Outback Bowl committee's goals reflect an era when bowl games primarily were regarded as rewards for players and sunny vacations for fans. Beginning with the Rose Bowl in 1902, bowl games were organized to provide financial benefits for sponsoring communities, but football generally topped finances.

Outback Bowl organizers have retained some of the old-time flavor of bowl games along with fulfilling an ambitious financial mission by scheduling no fewer than 20 public and private events before this year's game. Those provide fun and serious business networking opportunities alike.

But no matter how much fun there might be, big money and image overshadow all other factors involving bowl games.

University administrators covet the predictable flow of millions of dollars in cash from major bowl games. They worry the largesse might be shared more broadly if a national championship playoff were enacted, so they attend to the financial health of bowl games.

Those financial demands require the full-time Outback Bowl staff of five to generate enough money from TV, ticket and other sources to guarantee each participating team a minimum $3.1 million payoff, up from $2 million each in 2000.

In addition, regions such as Tampa Bay expect to reap millions in economic benefits from visitor and hometown fan expenditures, and bowl organizers must pave the way for various interests to get their share.

Outback Bowl chief executive Jim McVay discussed how he balances the old and the new, the fun and the finances, in a recent interview. Remarks were edited for brevity.

What differentiates the Outback Bowl from other Tampa Bay events in terms of bringing members of the community together, along with bringing in thousands of visitors?

Some events and games primarily draw local people. It is traditional for bowl fans to travel and support their teams.

Some years the stadium is filled with 50 percent of visitors from beyond the local market. That brings people to Tampa Bay between Christmas and New Year's when there is no business travel, never, ever.

What's the rationale behind the 20 events leading up to the game?

We start in June with the SunTrust Summer Splash at the Saddlebrook Resort. That brings our sponsors and committee members together in a fun social setting.

People play golf and tennis together. They get to interact in a nonstructured way that is very effective for business. If I had to advise someone bringing a new business to the area on how to get started here, this would be the way to go.

You have about 50 business sponsors making various levels of contributions this year, in addition to thousands of memberships that involve preferred ticket locations and other benefits. What feedback do you get about intangible benefits contributors receive?

We sit down with representatives of sponsors each year to review what worked for them and what didn't.

From a sponsor standpoint, companies enjoy not only hospitality and social networking benefits, but the visibility and exposure from our game. There's the signage, the messages on the Jumbotron - more than two dozen avenues in all.

Companies also get to use tickets for their top producers and for their customers to attend the events.

The Outback Bowl estimates its regional economic impact at about $40 million. How do you figure that?

There are 50 million ways to estimate financial impact, so we want to be careful with that.

We do exit surveys. We calculate the number of nights people generally stay, pay for rooms, get transportation, seek entertainment.

You want to be careful. Some venues might factor in tickets sold outside the market. But where does that come in? Economic impact is tough to quantify; there's no uniform way to do it, and there's the matter of multipliers.

Unlike when the NFL's Super Bowl and the NCAA's Final Four come to town, local residents can get tickets to the Outback Bowl, good ones between the 40 yard lines (upper level), actually, if they buy quickly enough. Does that please you?

Sure it does. Ideally, it would be good from a financial standpoint to sell out all our tickets to memberships and the participating schools. We are here to create economic impact and showcase our community nationwide.

But we want to manage a quality event. That means something where people can bring their families to enjoy not just the game, but the bands, the cheerleaders, the flyover before the game a military jet flyover and a precision demonstration by paratroopers preceding the kickoff, the tailgating opportunities.

Tickets cost $65 each. That compares with $75 for Orlando's Capital One Bowl and more than $100 and on up for Miami's Orange Bowl. How do you set ticket prices?

We have a big financial obligation, paying out $6.2 million to the teams this year. We have to calculate all of our revenue streams, less the expenses for our corporate tent villages, insurance, all of the various costs, and make sure we have money to make our commitments.

What kind of effort does it require to sell your membership packages, which range from $60 for the rights to buy 10 $65 tickets in a preferred location, plus two parking passes, to those that cost $20,000 for 100 tickets, 25 parking passes, invitations to six events and a fully catered tent to serve 100 people?

We start selling those within 30 days of the game on Feb. 1. People buy those kinds of memberships on an annual basis, and we have extensive renewals. It is like buying a season ticket to a number of events, not just a single game.

Of course, to sell 20,000 memberships, we have to have a very organized program, and we are fortunate we have a lot of good people from the community who help us out to do that. Plus we have a history now; people know what the events are.

But believe me, there is no waving a wand. It is hard work year-round.

You have contracts with the Southeastern Conference and Big 10 to supply teams to the Outback Bowl, and you get your choice of teams after selections for the Bowl Championship Series games and Orlando's Capital One Bowl.

Do you wish it were like the old days, when most bowls got to recruit at least one team from beyond a conference commitment?

No. We are real happy with the Big 10 and the SEC. It's taken years to put this together.

We have good conference relations, and we work hard to provide the greatest trip possible for the teams.

Is there any chance bowls would support becoming part of a college football playoff?

Bowls have no interest in doing anything different. We have 32 bowl games and treat 64 teams like kings. We end up with 32 winners on campus.

The arrangement makes every game in the regular season important. College football has never been more popular.

We think the bowls are great for the players and great for the community.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.

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