Gator Bowl now known as Taxslayer Bowl

[pierre]

http://www.wokv.com/news/news/local/gator-bowl-changing-name-moving-jan-1st/nfRKY/

After 70 years the Gator Bowl - as we've known it - is no more.

The new name of the game removes "gator" entirely, and it will no longer be played on New Years Day, two big changes that we learned Thursday morning from the President of Gator Bowl Sports.  The game will now be known as the TaxSlayer Bowl and played on Jan. 2nd.

Dropping "gator" from the name is part of a six-year agreement reached between TaxSlayer.com and the Gator Bowl

Beginning in 2015 the TaxSlayer Bowl will be televised on ESPN January 2nd, which is one day later than years past.  It will feature a team from the SEC that will serve as the anchor team.  That team will face an opponent from the Big Ten Conference or the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

[Traveller]

I had a feeling this would happen eventually...

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,16807.msg308207.html#msg308207

[pierre]

Yeah. Not a surprise. This needed to get done, and should have been done years ago.

If I had to guess, I would say Verlander is the driving force behind this.

[Tacachale]

Lame.

[I-10east]

I had a feeling this would happen eventually...

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,16807.msg308207.html#msg308207

Yup, you called it. I totally agree with this move. Some people confused that Gator Bowl name with an affiliation to UF. Now to change the name of the Blvd.

[FSBA]

The Gator Bowl has been so thoroughly mismanaged I'm surprised it could get a sponsor. A decade ago it picked the best ACC team that didn't make a BCS bowl game, now it will be 7th in the pecking order when the ACC comes back into the rotation.

[Tacachale]

^The Gator Bowl gets knocked for that, but really the former tie-in was a sinking ship, binding the bowl to two declining conferences, one of which (Big East) has since collapsed. Even during that time, some of the best years were when they bent the rules of the tie-in to take more popular teams instead of ones higher in the rankings, for instance taking FSU in 2010. Looking at what's happened to the Big East, it's a good thing we didn't ride it into the ground.

The GBA saw what was coming and started over with new conference tie-ins, but it's meant starting lower on the pecking order and working back up. The whole thing can be blamed on the rise of the BCS.

This new name is really lame, but I suppose they figure it will help them get the payout needed to be more competitive. Hopefully it works out.

[spuwho]

BCS breakup is more of a Vegas thing. More money circulates around a single defined championship game.

NCAA loved the computer approach. Less encroachment of gambling money, now? It's wide open again.

[tufsu1]

Lame.

+1000

[mtraininjax]

Could have been worse, we could have the Poulan Weedeater Bowl as a name.

[KenFSU]

Not a fan, even as a mortal enemy of the University of Florida.

Any confusion over the name should have been cleared up over the last 70 years.

The Gator Bowl name is historically significant for Jacksonville, both in regards to the post season classic itself and as a callback to our original post-Fairfield/pre-NFL stadium.

If Dallas can find a way to hold on to the Cotton Bowl name (AT&T Cotton Bowl), and South Florida and Pasadena can preserve the Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl, there's no earthly reason that we should willingly kick a tradition dating back to World War II to the curb.

Typical Jacksonville, in regards to our treatment of our history.

[Tacachale]

^Yep. Our history of prominence was what set us apart from the other second-tier bowls. Now we're just another game with a silly name, no matter how much payout we get from the sponsor for the next six years.

[edjax]

^^our history of prominence set us apart as a second tier bowl?  Unless you mean helped us now become a third tier or less not sure how that history of prominence was really working.  So keeping the Gator Bowl name was protecting our history or would it have been more of Jax living in the past and not keeping up with the changing world?  Personally I say more of the latter.

[Tacachale]

^The Gator Bowl declined for reasons unrelated to its history. However, its climb back up has been strongly related to its history as a good bowl to attend and sponsor. Even this past year attendance was well ahead of the Capital One and Outback, and not far behind the Chick-Fil-A, Alamo, and even the Fiesta Bowl. So what does selling out our history get us, exactly?

[Bill Hoff]

Lame.

Agreed. Is there a worse bowl game title?