September 16, 2005
New Orleans Bowl off to "La.-La." land?
There has been plenty of speculation about the potential location of the Nokia Sugar Bowl (here, here, here, and here) after Hurricane Katrina. Overlooked or sometimes buried within that coverage is the fact that the devastation also put the site of the 2005 Wyndham New Orleans Bowl into play.
Bowl officials have indicated that they are in preliminary discussions about moving this season's game to Layfayette, Louisiana, and the campus of Louisiana-Layfayette. UL-L's Cajun Field, aka "The Swamp" (now there's an original stadium nickname!), has a seating capacity of 31,000. The small stadium capacity should not be a problem, as the New Orleans Bowl--which pits the Sun Belt Conference champion against a Conference USA team--drew only 27,253 in 2004 and 25,184 in 2003.
Said executive director Billy Ferrante of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation:
"We have had some very preliminary talks with the folks at Louisiana-Lafayette and our first choice is to keep the game in Louisiana...Hopefully we will have a decision wrapped up in a couple of weeks."
For all you Mean Green fans out there, Lafayette is 428 miles from Denton, Texas (the home of the University of North Texas, which has participated in all four New Orleans Bowls since the game's inception). Bowl officials would be wise to consult with the folks in Denton prior to relocating the game.
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