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THE ARIZONA BOWL, TELEVISED ON

CW IN TUCSON

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The news we’ve been waiting for!

 The NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl  will be televised, live, on the Tucson CW affiliate, KWBA via American Sports Network (ASN).  ASN, a division of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), will televise the live game, making it available on Sinclair’s television stations across the country, including other linear broadcasters and regional sports networks. The game will also be live-streamed on CampusInsiders.com.

 “It’s important for a successful bowl game to have a linear partner that will broadcast the event throughout Southern Arizona and across the nation,” said Alan Young, CEO of the Arizona Sports & Entertainment Commission.  “We are thrilled that Tucson’s CW affiliate, KWBA, and American Sports Network will deliver the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl to more than 75 million homes on game day.”

 

CW can be accessed on the following carriers/channels in Tucson:

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GAMEDAY SAFETY: THE DO’S AND DON’TS FOR GAME DAY BAGS

Arizona Athletics is instituting a new clear bag policy for all of its venues. The policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into our venues.

The following is a list of bags that will be accepted for entry:

        • Bags that are clear plastic or vinyl and do not exceed 12” x 6” x 12”

        • One-gallon clear plastic freezer bags (Ziploc bag or similar)

        • Small clutch bags, approximately the size of a hand, after being searched

        • Exceptions will be made for medically necessary items after proper inspection, including but not limited to oxygen tanks, diabetes kits, allergy pens, etc.

Prohibited bags include but are not limited to:

        • Purses larger than a clutch

        • Briefcases

        • Backpacks

        • Fanny packs

        • Diaper bags

        • Cinch bags

        • Luggage of any kind

        • Long golf umbrellas

        • Cooler bags

        • Computer bags

        • Camera bags

        • Non-approved seat cushions including large traditional seat cushions that have pockets, zippers, compartments or covers

        • Any bag larger than the permissible size, unless credentialed personnel carrying such belonging have been thoroughly searched

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This is not a restriction on items that have been allowed into our venues; it is only a restriction on the type of container used to carry items. Souvenir cups, unopened water, Kleenex and personal items will all be permitted into the arena if carried in one bag that meets the criteria listed above.

Personal items may be enclosed in a small clutch bag, approximately the size of a hand. These small bags will be searched.

The no food and beverage policy will remain in effect, however, medically necessary items will be permitted after proper inspection.

COLORADO STATE AND NEVADA TO COMPETE IN THE INAUGURAL NOVA® HOME LOANS ARIZONA BOWL

Match-Up Brings Teams Together for 13th Time

TUCSON, ARIZ. (Dec 6, 2015) – The NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl is pleased to announce that the Colorado State Rams and University of Nevada Wolf Pack will compete in the inaugural game. The teams will face off at 5:30 p.m. MST at Arizona Stadium located on the campus of University of Arizona in Tucson on Tuesday, Dec. 29th. The CSU and Nevada will both represent the Mountain West Conference.

“We are excited to welcome the players, coaching staff, bands and fans of Colorado State and Nevada to Tucson and the NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl,” said Alan Young, CEO of the Arizona Sports & Entertainment Commission. “The inaugural Arizona Bowl kicks off a new era of college bowl games in the Southwest, and we’re thrilled to watch these two highly competitive teams compete.”

Colorado State finished its regular season 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain Division, including victories in its final four games of the season, three of which came on the road.

Nevada finished its regular season 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the West Division. The Wolf Pack strung together three consecutive conference wins during the regular season to help boost them into a second-place finish in the Mountain West’s West standings.

The last meeting between the Rams and Wolf Pack came on Oct. 11, 2014 when Colorado State beat Nevada, 31-24. The two teams have met a total of 12 times dating back to Aug. 30, 1997. Colorado State holds the series advantage winning 10 of the 12 contests.

“The Mountain West is excited to participate in the launch of the NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl,” said Mountain West Deputy Commissioner Bret Gilliland. “The coaches and student-athletes will have a tremendous postseason experience in Tucson. At the same time, we’ll be able to give back to local charities and contribute to the community. We look forward to a wonderful visit and a great game.”

The NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl is the first-ever bowl game to have a digitally-focused broadcast strategy orchestrated by primary digital media partner, Campus Insiders. Broadcast partner, American Sports Network will also televise the live game, making it available across Sinclair’s television stations, other linear broadcasters and regional sports networks including KAME in Reno and KWGN in Denver. More details and the full broadcast lineup including special digital features will be announced at a later date.

Tickets to the NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl are available online via Ticketmaster at www.azbowlgame.com.

For more information about the NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl and related events, please visit www.azbowlgame.com, and connect on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

 

Volunteers needed to Support the Inaugural

NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl

Numerous roles and responsibilities provide an opportunity for all

TUCSON, Ariz. (December 8, 2015) The NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl is seeking volunteers to support this history-making post-season game to be played at Arizona Stadium in Tucson on Tuesday, December 29 at 5:30 p.m. MST.

 

Volunteers will assist in various roles to ensure players and college football fans experience Tucson at its best. There are numerous positions available including field and stadium operations support, pre-game events set up and support, traffic control and parking, and more. The time commitment is minimal for playing such a vital role in the bowl game’s operations.

 

Volunteers will receive a game ticket, a tee-shirt and a meal. Shamrock Foods is the volunteer catering sponsor and El Charro Café is donating the staff to serve the volunteers.

 

“Volunteers have an enormous impact on the success of a bowl game,” said Alan Young, CEO Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission. “They not only are a key component to making the game happen logistically, but they also play a critical role ensuring that we stage a world-class event and present Tucson at its best to participants, attendees, and football fans across the nation.”

 

Volunteer_Img.jpgTo volunteer, complete the volunteer interest form located on www.azbowlgame.com/community/volunteer-opportunities and the volunteer credentialing form located on www.azbowlgame.com/Media Center.

 

For more information, please visit www.azbowlgame.com. Please also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates as they come.

 

About the NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl

The NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl was sanctioned in March 2015 as the 41st NCAA college football game and the third bowl game staged in Arizona. Kicking off in December 2015, the bowl game will feature two teams from among the Mountain West Conference, Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference. The NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl is dedicated to promoting community engagement and support in the Tucson area. For more information about the NOVA® Home Loans Arizona Bowl, or for ticket information, visit www.azbowlgame.com.

About the Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission

The Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission is a non-profit organization created in 1988. The Commission collaborates with hundreds of partners to help fulfill the mission of bringing national and international sporting events to the state, assisting in the promotion of existing events and Arizona sports teams, and developing youth sports programs throughout the Valley. In 1999, it assumed oversight of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2012, the Grand Canyon State Games. For more information about the Commission call 602.258.6272 or visit www.azsportsent.com.

About NOVA® Home Loans

NOVA® Home Loans has served the needs of homeowners and homebuyers since 1980. We are able to originate loans in 12 states.  In 2001, we merged our flexibility as a mortgage broker with the efficient service of a mortgage bank to create a better way of lending. Efficiency and teamwork are the keys to our accelerated loan delivery. Loan applications are handled in-house from start to finish – eliminating the need to ship your application around the country for underwriting, approval and document preparation. For more information, visit www.novahomeloans.com.

 

 

‘Quirkey’ bowl gets odd pairing: 2 teams from same conference

December 06, 2015 7:45 pm  • 

 

When he founded the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl, Tucson attorney Ali Farhang had one rule.

Well, three.

“Our colors aren’t going to be purple and teal. We’re not going to have a cactus and a cowboy hat on there,” he said. “Let’s create a new perception instead of sticking with the old ones.”

The Arizona Bowl took another step into a funky new future Sunday, when it was announced that Colorado State and Nevada would play in the Dec. 29 game at Arizona Stadium. Both teams play in the Mountain West Conference, setting up an ultra-rare bowl meeting between league foes. The last nonchampionship bowl game to feature two teams from the same conference was the Orange Bowl … in 1979.

“Hey, we’re all about distinguishing ourselves from every other game,” Farhang said.

The inaugural matchup came together when teams from the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA, two of the Arizona Bowl’s tie-ins, failed to deliver enough qualified teams. Bowl officials talked to the Pac-12 about taking the Arizona Wildcats, but were rebuffed.

Colorado State (7-5) qualified under the Arizona Bowl’s agreement with the Mountain West. Nevada was invited Sunday despite objections from conference commissioner Craig Thompson, who believed a 6-6 Wolf Pack deserved a more prestigious bowl than teams with 5-7 records. Nebraska, for example, has a losing record but will face UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl.

Another 5-7 team, Minnesota, will play in the Quick Lane Bowl.

Thompson said in a news release that he tried “swaps, alternative financial arrangements and creative options” to avoid an all-Mountain West bowl game, but found no takers.

“The NCAA decision to allow 5-7 teams to be added to the pool on an equal footing with 6-6 teams was flawed,” Thompson said.

“Our conference representatives argued steadfastly for an approach whereby all 6-6 teams would first be placed according to primary and secondary agreements among the conferences and bowl games.”

“Clearly,” he said, “the system is broken.”

 

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Alan Young, CEO of the Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission, said the Mountain West showdown “turned out to be the best choice” for the Arizona Bowl.

Neither Colorado State nor Nevada objected to the pairing, he said.

So this is the Arizona Bowl, the first postseason game in Tucson since 1999.

“We’re thrilled about it,” Young said. “The conference (teams) are close, they can drive … it makes sense. They know Tucson, and they want to come.”

Colorado State is riding a four-game winning streak, and has taken five of its last six games under first-year coach Mike Bobo. Wide receiver Rashard Higgins leads the Rams in catches (66) and yards (933), and has eight receiving touchdowns.

Nevada (6-6) should be familiar to Arizona fans: The Wildcats and Wolf Pack have played each other three times in the last four seasons, including a memorable 2012 New Mexico Bowl game in Albuquerque.

Coach Brian Polian’s team played the UA at Arizona Stadium in September 2014, losing 35-28.

The odd matchup is strangely fitting for Tucson’s bowl game, which will be run — and broadcast — differently than most games. Arizona Bowl officials have given 5,000 tickets to each school, and will let Colorado State and Nevada sell them and keep the profits.

A portion of each ticket sold in Tucson — and all the game’s revenue — will be donated to charity.

The Arizona Bowl is also the first game in postseason history to be digital-first: CampusInsiders.com will stream the game online, though it will also be shown on the American Sports Network and on local television in both Reno and Denver.

More local affiliates will be announced in the coming week.

There’s not a cactus or cowboy hat in sight.

“We’re a different bowl,” Farhang said. “We’re going to change the business models for all the other bowls. … Everything about this bowl is a little quirky.”

 

 

Tucson’s own called upon to create Arizona Bowl Trophy

December 03, 2015 5:45 pm • Ryan Lopez  Arizona Daily Star

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Keeping it local.

That is what the Committee for the Arizona Bowl are striving for. So when it came time to create a trophy, they didn’t look further than Tom Philabaum, a local artist and owner of Philabaum Glass Company in downtown Tucson.

 

For forty years Philabaum Glass has been a Tucson favorite in the downtown art scene. Philabaum and his crew came up with multiple designs that will be presented to the committee for choosing. It is said the trophy will stand 20 inches tall with a four-inch base, made up of glass and copper.

 

What teams will square off for the right to victoriously hold this Tucson masterpiece in the air will be determined this Sunday.

 

 

Tucson ‘rolling’ in preparation for Arizona Bowl

November 21, 2015 8:00 pm • Greg Hansen Arizona Daily Star

Two weeks from today, the inaugural Nova Homes Loans Arizona Bowl will identify the teams for its Dec. 29 game at Arizona Stadium, and the possibilities go on and on.
From the Mountain West Conference: New Mexico, perhaps. Or Air Force. Maybe Utah State.
From Conference USA: Marshall or Louisiana Tech or maybe Western Kentucky.

And if that doesn’t work out, the Sun Belt Conference might step in and add Georgia Southern or Appalachian State. Who knows, after some 11th hour deals are completed on Dec. 6, Arizona might be juggled into the equation.

In a short time, the Arizona Bowl committee has made impressive progress. Momentum is obvious: the bowl committee has sold all the suites at Arizona Stadium, which is close to $100,000 in sales. They’ve rented the exclusive Sands Club at the Lowell-Stevens football complex. More than 25 Tucson charities are assisting with ticket sales.

Alan Young, chief operating officer of the game, looked at me seriously last week and said “I think we’ll sell 30,000 tickets.’’

 

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Photography by Aaron Latham / Arizona Daily Star

At the final edition of the Copper Bowl, 1999, when Colorado and Boston College played on New Year’s Eve, 35,762 attended.

It is to be noted that the Arizona Bowl Committee includes Tucson attorney Burt Kinerk, a founding father of the Copper Bowl, who fought the good fight for 10 years before former Fiesta Bowl ruler John Junker literally stole the game and moved it to Phoenix.

What Kinerk has discovered is that the Arizona Bowl is not run by dreamers.

Young, who has moved to Tucson from Phoenix, was the Fiesta Bowl chief of staff from 2011-13, picking up the pieces after Junker was incarcerated for a political finance scandal. It was Young, a vice-president of a pharmaceutical firm in Phoenix, who put the pieces back together and hired former UA president Robert Shelton in the transition from Junker to the current Fiesta Bowl leadership.

“The community support in Tucson has been strong from the beginning,’’ said Young. “It’s going to be a three-day celebration of football and of Tucson. We’re rolling.’’

Tucson attorney Ali Farhang, a football lifer who is an assistant coach at Salpointe Catholic and a long-time organizer in Tucson youth football organizations, is the Chairman of the Arizona Bowl Committee. Farhang is the blood and guts part of the bowl game, the same way Kinerk was 25 years ago.

Farhang graduated from the UA in 1993, began his advanced degree in Cambridge, England, and completed law school in Denver.

With Young and Farhang at the top, the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl has credibility, a personality and a future.

“We are working diligently to make this a turn-the-tide event for our community,’’ said Farhang. “It’s time for positive change; the support we have received from our community, including business leaders and the UA, has exceeded our hopes.’’

The game will not be shown on a traditional network or cable TV channel, but on campusinsiders.com. It is a digitally-focused strategy that even a tech-challenged fossil like me can operate. On Friday night, for example, I punched up campusinsiders.com and watched my alma mater, Utah State, play a basketball game.

No, it won’t be the Rose Bowl, but as Tucson fights its way back from sports oblivion, it’s an encouraging start.

 

College Football:

Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl set for Dec. 29

October 01, 2015 10:58 pm  • 

Tucson’s new bowl game has a name, a title sponsor and a date.

The Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl will take place Dec. 29 at Arizona Stadium, and will feature teams from the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA. The Sun Belt Conference will provide a team if the MWC or CUSA cannot fill the game. The announcement was made Thursday at the Westin La Paloma Resort.

This year’s postseason game will be Tucson’s first since 1999, when the Insight.com Bowl — now the Cactus Bowl — moved to Phoenix.

CampusInsiders.com will be the “primary media partner” of the bowl, officials say, while traditional television plans will be announced at a later date.

The game will kick off at 5:30 p.m.

College Football:

Meet the Arizona Bowl

October 01, 2015 8:52 pm  • 

College football’s newest bowl game was conceived, fittingly, on a football field.

Ali Farhang coaches defensive ends and special teams at Salpointe Catholic High School when he’s not running his law practice. Jon Volpe is the Lancers’ running backs coach when he’s not serving as chief executive officer of a home loan company.

Farhang had an idea — to bring a postseason football game back to Tucson — but no title sponsor. Volpe had a company, and a passion for sports. During a Salpointe practice earlier this season, Farhang mentioned the predicament to Volpe.

“He wanted to know more,” Farhang said, “and it went from there.”

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Photography by A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star

The Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl was born at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in a ballroom at the Westin La Paloma Resort. The game’s parents are resting comfortably — for now. Both Farhang and Volpe know the Dec. 29 game follows a long line of failed local sports ventures.

“In Tucson, we talks about what’s wrong with us and things in the past that have happened, the things we’ve lost,” Farhang said. “My hope — and I’m confident this is going to happen — is that we’re going to use this game to accentuate what’s best about us.”

The inaugural Arizona Bowl will pit a member of the Mountain West Conference against a team from Conference USA or, if none are available, a qualifying Sun Belt Conference team. It follows in the tradition of the Copper/Insight.com Bowl, which was held at Arizona Stadium every year from 1990-99.

Since then, Tucson has gained — and lost — the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and watched as three spring training teams and a pair of Triple-A clubs left for greener pastures. Pro fastpitch softball, independent league baseball and minor league hockey teams failed before they had a chance to register locally.

Football, organizers believe, can have staying power. For one, the Arizona Bowl will be held at the newly renovated Arizona Stadium. For another, the Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission and all three participating conferences have a financial stake in it. The game is expected to bring $25 million to the Tucson economy, according to an Eller College of Management study.

The Mountain West, along with the ASEC, will be responsible for game operations. The league stands to benefit the most from the new game: The MWC now has bowl affiliates local in Las Vegas, San Diego, Albuquerque, Honolulu, Boise, Fort Worth and Tucson. By manipulating which bowl-eligible teams play where — a practice that’s become more common in recent years — the league can ensure most are within driving distance of their destinations.

Conference USA has four Texas teams: UTEP, UTSA, North Texas and Rice. Three Sun Belt teams — Texas State, Idaho and New Mexico State — are within reasonable driving distance of Tucson.

“It’s critical and important to put the right team in the right place,” said Karl Benson, the Sun Belt’s commissioner and former Western Athletic Conference boss. “The out-of-town bowls are driven by filling hotel rooms … and when fans get in cars to drive to bowl games, those are successful bowl games. We want to provide you with the two best possible teams.”

The Arizona Bowl has partnered with CampusInsiders.com for what it says is the first digitally focused postseason game in history. The streaming website will preview and cover the game extensively; a television partner will be announced shortly.

The game is “goal-to-go” with a network, said Crowley Sullivan, general manager of CampusInsiders.com. ESPN would be an unlikely partner, as it’s showing all three of the day’s other games — the Armed Forces Bowl, Russell Athletic Bowl and Texas bowl — throughout the day.

 Thursday’s news conference included representatives from all three involved conferences and a half-dozen local politicians and, perhaps predictably, quickly turned into a pep rally.

The lone standing ovation was saved for Farhang, who has been named chair of the game’s Local Operating Committee.

The part-time coach then delivered what he called “a halftime speech,” complete with a call-and-response.

“Tucson, Arizona: What time is it?” he yelled.

“Game time!” the crowd responded.

Finally.

“Let’s put a little swagger in our community,” Farhang said. “We have a lot to be proud of. Let’s show the world.”

 

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