Officials push back bowl plans for 2015

A group of local supporters still believes central Arkansas has all the elements needed to host a college football bowl game. It just won't be played in December at War Memorial Stadium.

While maintaining confidence in the venue and a local coordinating committee, War Memorial Stadium Commission chairman Kevin Crass said it "is not feasible" for a bowl game to be played by December at the stadium.

The statement did not give specific reasons for putting off the game, which would have featured teams from the Sun Belt Conference and the American Athletic Conference, nor did it say if the group plans to submit formal applications in the future.

"Those of us who have been involved in this process have confirmed that all of the pieces for a successful bowl game are in place in our community," Crass said in a release. "While we are disappointed that the game will not occur in 2015, the depth of information gathered has demonstrated that Little Rock could be a fantastic site for a bowl."

Crass and a group of community leaders that included the convention and visitors bureaus of Little Rock and North Little Rock and former UALR athletic director Chris Peterson submitted an application earlier this month to the NCAA for a bowl to be played in December at War Memorial Stadium.

The group said at that time that it expected word from the NCAA in May, and that in the meantime it would work on securing a title sponsor and a television contract.

The statement issued Thursday, which included comments from Crass and Peterson, did not mention the status of the application or television contract negotiations, but Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson said by telephone that the delay had nothing to do with any of those elements.

Benson said the group "had an offer" with a television network and a title sponsor, but he declined to name either.

"It wasn't for the lack of a willing title sponsor. It was not a lack of a television provider. It wasn't because of two conferences that weren't willing to go forward," Benson said. "I think that's important to note here. It just was a matter of timing."

Benson maintained Thursday the Sun Belt's dedication to being a part of a bowl game in Little Rock, a stance that he has held for almost two years. War Memorial Stadium hosted Benson and representatives of the Mid-American Conference for a lunch in 2013, but the MAC instead signed a bowl agreement with the Sun Belt to play in Montgomery, Ala. The Camellia Bowl hosted its first game this past December.

Benson said in January that the Sun Belt, which has four bowl tie-ins, would like a another bowl as a potential destination for its westernmost teams like Arkansas State, Texas State, Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette. In March, he acknowledged talks for a bowl at the stadium had started up again.

"The Sun Belt Conference remains optimistic about a future bowl game in Little Rock," Benson said Thursday. "We strongly believe that all the ingredients for a successful game are in place."

American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco said Thursday that he believes in Little Rock as well, but that his league would approach future conversations with "a clean slate."

"We would absolutely listen to any proposal they'd like to make, but we would have to see what that would be," Aresco said. "There might be [another] bowl out there that had an interest in us. We just don't know."

The statement credited Peterson, who resigned last September after 14 years at UALR, with "a significant amount of due diligence and analysis to offer support to the effort."

"We appreciate the work of the staffs of the Sun Belt and the American conferences," Peterson said in the release. "I feel strongly that central Arkansas has a great deal to offer for a bowl, and we will continue to work toward a bowl game in the future."

Sports on 04/24/2015

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