|
Staging a major college football bowl game in Charlotte was not possible prior to 1996, as a large, first-class facility was not available. That changed with the opening of the state-of-the-art Bank of America Stadium, home to the NFL Carolina Panthers. Built by the Richardson family, the stadium provided the city with a venue to host top-tier sporting events.
With a facility in place, Raycom Sports began exploring options for collegiate events to be held in Charlotte. The number of universities from the Atlantic Coast Conference within a short driving distance to Charlotte made ACC schools the most logical participants.
Raycom had brought Division-1A college football to Charlotte with the Carolinas’ Clash in 1996 and 2004, featuring NC State and East Carolina, and a two-year series between North Carolina and NC State in 1998 and 1999. The company also provided sales and marketing experience for a number of different bowl games and founded the Sunshine Football Classic (Blockbuster Bowl, Carquest Bowl, Micronpc.com Bowl) in Ft. Lauderdale for eleven years.
Ken Haines, executive vice president & COO of Raycom Sports, envisioned a major college bowl game in Charlotte. He met with business and community leaders in Charlotte, garnering local support for a NCAA bowl bid. Mayor Pat McCrory and other community leaders quickly offered assistance, and the Richardson family made their facility available.
The first step was receiving NCAA certification for a postseason bowl game. The NCAA had a moratorium on new bowl games, capping the number of games at 26. But on June 21, 2001, Haines received word that one of the existing games might not return in 2002, creating a possible opening for Charlotte. Haines called a Raycom staff meeting and within two days a formal application package was delivered to the NCAA. The ACC and Big East Conference agreed to supply participating teams if the certification was approved.
The bowl effort got off to an auspicious start as Haines was scheduled to make the formal Charlotte presentation to the committee in Philadelphia on the morning of September 11, 2001. After landing that morning, he watched on television as the day's tragic events unfolded and at 10:45 a.m. informed an unsuspecting group of college athletic directors and NCAA staff members of the attacks on America. After a few brief comments, the meeting was cancelled and it wasn't until eight months later, on Wednesday, May 1, 2002 at the NCAA meetings in San Antonio, that he was able to give a full presentation to the Certification Committee.
On Friday, May 3, 2002, the NCAA Bowl Certification Committee formally granted approval to Raycom Sports for a new bowl game to be played in Charlotte. Raycom had cleared the first hurdle but another important piece of the puzzle still was needed.
On Tuesday, May 7, 2002, Continental Tire was announced as the title sponsor of the bowl, to be played every December. The game was officially ready to kick off.
The inaugural Continental Tire Bowl was the largest non-BCS crowd of the bowl season and the second-most attended inaugural bowl game in NCAA history. Virginia defeated West Virginia University 48-22 in a matchup of the #2 team from the ACC against the #2 team from the Big East. The game was completely sold out within one week of announcing the teams. It is believed to be the fastest sellout of a first year bowl game in the history of the sport.
The second-annual Continental Tire Bowl took hold of Charlotte as over 52,000 fans descended on the city. Virginia successfully defended its Continental Tire Bowl crown with a 23-16 victory over the Panthers. And with a 2.23 rating on ESPN2, the Bowl earned the distinction of becoming the most viewed program in ESPN2 history with over 2 million viewers.
In 2004, the third annual Continental Tire Bowl saw Boston College defeat North Carolina, 37-24. The game was a sellout, with 73,238 tickets snatched up for the game, including over 65,000 by North Carolina fans. This marked the first Carolinas-based university to participate in the game. At the same time, the game offered a preview of an expanded Atlantic Coast Conference, as BC will join the conference in 2005. In a Visitor Impact Study by Visit Charlotte, the 2004 game resulted in a total economic impact of $22,967,188 on Mecklenburg County.
On Tueday, January 11, 2005, Raycom Sports announced that Meineke Car Care Centers had agreed to become the new title sponsor of the bowl, renamed the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
|
