Senior Bowl may leave Mobile, sends RFP to JAX

[ac]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/08/25/senior-bowl-might-be-moving-out-of-mobile/

Previously, the game was linked to Tampa. Now, another Florida city is entering the discussion.

Per the Mobile Press-Register, organizers of the game have issued a formal request for a proposal to several other cities, including Jacksonville. The other cities have not been identified.

It would be nice to get this game back in our city.  JAX was the inaugural host of the Senior Bowl in 1950.

Think the City will jump on this opportunity?

[jandar]

They should jump on it.
Will they though? Thats another question entirely.

[copperfiend]

You are talking about 100+ players, their families, hundreds of NFL scouts, coaches, agents and media members staying in Jacksonville for a week. Not to mention people coming in for the game. Good for the economy.

[Scarlettjax]

I would love to see it here. 

[ProjectMaximus]

Of course it would be terrific. Not holding my breath though...

Thought this comment was funny on the site:

#  Kevin from Philly says:  August 25, 2009 10:04 AM

I guess all seniors eventually move to Florida.

[Tripoli1711]

That's hilarious re: Seniors moving.

Why would Mobile let this go?  That's my question.

[ac]

Have facilities been an issue in Mobile?  That's one of my guesses.  Could it be the organizers want it in an NFL city, like having the combine in Indy?

This may actually be a situation where stadium size works in our favor.

[civil42806]

The stadiuim is not particularly nice, it is old has the old style bench seating.  Resembles the Gator bowl circa 1955

[jandar]

Have facilities been an issue in Mobile?  That's one of my guesses.  Could it be the organizers want it in an NFL city, like having the combine in Indy?

This may actually be a situation where stadium size works in our favor.

Owners Coaches and such could sit in luxury suites if they so choose. Plenty of room for scouts, etc. Facilities are far superior in Jacksonville.

[JaxByDefault]

No doubt that we have superior football facilities, a less expensive airport to fly into, and Florida has more cache as a tourism state-- all of which are probably the most significant factors-- but there is more to do in downtown Mobile than there is to do in downtown JAX.

(If you work for the COJ, read ^that again and let it sink in fully. Sad, but true.)

Hopefully city officials will put some serious effort into landing this opportunity.

[civil42806]

No doubt that we have superior football facilities, a less expensive airport to fly into, and Florida has more cache as a tourism state-- all of which are probably the most significant factors-- but there is more to do in downtown Mobile than there is to do in downtown JAX.

(If you work for the COJ, read ^that again and let it sink in fully. Sad, but true.)

Hopefully city officials will put some serious effort into landing this opportunity.

Unfortunately thats true, currently living in Mobile, they have a pretty vibrant downtown.  Dauphin street is a blast.  But the s\Senior Bowl is all about business, so I don't think that would enter into it.

[blizz01]

I just heard that JAX's bid fell short......................

[DavidWilliams]

That is disappointing.

[stjr]

Apparently down, but not necessarily out:

Senior Bowl not coming to Jacksonville
City's $650,000-a-year offer rejected; All-Star game to stay in Mobile

    * By Brandon Larrabee
    * Story updated at 8:11 PM on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009

College football’s all-star game will remain in Mobile, Ala., after the board that owns the game voted to keep the event in its home for the last 58 years.

Jacksonville officials, however, aren’t giving up the fight to bring the Senior Bowl to the First Coast.

“The board has voted to discontinue any other talks with any other cities,” said Kevin McDermond, a spokesman for the Mobile Arts & Sports Association, which owns the game. “Bottom line: It’s staying in Mobile.”

But Michael Bouda, director of sports and entertainment for the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, said the Senior Bowl can still buy its way out of the deal with Mobile after a year, and efforts to bring the game to Jacksonville are far from over.

“I’m still not convinced that the Senior Bowl is there for the long haul. ... I don’t see Jacksonville stopping from trying to get it,” Bouda said.

Bouda said he doesn’t believe the game will be economically viable if it remains in Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium, which seats 40,000-plus, instead of the larger Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, where officials predicted the game could draw 50,000 to 55,000. He noted that Mobile Arts & Sports Association was controlled by local businessmen and business leaders.

“If you’re truly voting for what’s best for the game, I don’t know how you keep it in Mobile,” he said.

Last week, Senior Bowl President Steve Hale said Jacksonville had “clearly emerged as the leading candidate,” but Mobile officials worked to get Mobile Arts & Sports Association to accept a new, three-year deal with two three-year options.

The Senior Bowl, which showcases graduating college prospects for NFL scouts, was first played in Jacksonville in 1950. But ever since, it has been played in Mobile. It pits North vs. South in a game that has featured famed coaches, including Don Shula, Tom Landry and Bill Belichick.

About 30 percent of the players on active NFL rosters this year played in the Senior Bowl. Of the 256 players selected in this year’s NFL Draft, 86 took part in the Senior Bowl.

But Jacksonville economic development officials were more interested in a different set of numbers: The millions of dollars in tourism spending they believe the game would generate if it came to Jacksonville. Television coverage of the event on the NFL Network was another attraction.

Jacksonville’s five-year, $650,000-a-year incentive package for a contract beginning in 2011 dwarfs the $115,000 incentive Mobile offered to sign a five-year deal, which the Mobile Arts & Sports Association turned down.

The Jacksonville deal would have included up to $350,000 from the Duval County Tourist Development Council, depending on how many hotel rooms are sold; $150,000 from Visit Jacksonville; $130,000 to $150,000 from the city Sports and Entertainment Board; and some of the concession proceeds from the game.

Jacksonville Municipal Stadium also hosts the annual Florida-Georgia rivalry game and the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl in addition to the Jaguars’ NFL home games.

Hale said two other Southeast cities with NFL franchises were in the running if the game decided to leave Mobile. According to press reports, one of the contenders was Tampa.

The long-rumored possible move aroused strong local passions in Mobile â€" a coastal city in one of the most college football-crazy states in the nation; home of the historic Alabama Crimson Tide and cross-state rival Auburn Tigers.

In the end, those sentiments likely helped keep the game in Mobile.

“What it boiled down to, from what I’m told, was emotional ties that our board members had with this community,” McDermond said.

From: http://jacksonville.com/sports/2009-10-08/story/senior_bowl_not_coming_to_jacksonville

[tufsu1]

This may have been done to get Mobile worried from the beginning....that game has been there forever...and like our GA/FL game, history plays a part in future decisions.