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It's official. The Boca Raton Bowl is coming to a TV near you starting in 2014. The Mid-American conference formally announced the creation of the new ESPN-owned bowl game Friday morning, providing some details about the game along the way.
Naturally the bowl will be played in Boca Raton, Fla., at Florida Atlantic University's gorgeous football stadium. You know, the one that previously was going to be named after a private, for-profit prison company.
MAC Announces The Creation Of The Boca Raton Bowl -- http://t.co/mIvDkzSf1S #MACtion pic.twitter.com/ESbGbR9Paj
— MAC Sports (@MACSports) October 11, 2013
The game was created in a partnership with the Conference-USA and the American Athletic Conference (welcome to the small time boys) and will be played annually sometime before Christmas day. It will air nationally on either ESPN or ESPN2 (likely the dos).
The MAC has a six-year deal with the bowl, running from 2014-2019, and the game will feature a rolling membership, with the MAC playing a C-USA scholl in 2014, and an AAC school in 2015.
After the 2015 bowl, a different conference will take the MAC's spot for two years, with the MAC rotating back in for the 2018 and 2019 iterations.
The game gives the MAC four confirmed primary bowl tie-ins for next season, with a yet-to-be-announced fifth game. MAC commissioner, Dr. Jon Steinbrecher, offered his thoughts on the new game.
The MAC bowl lineup starting in 2014 looks something like this:
- GoDaddy Bowl
- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
- Camellia Bowl (announced in August)
- Boca Raton Bowl
- Mystery Bowl No. 5
The next bowl should be announced sometime in the coming weeks, and it could be the oft-rumored Bahamas Bowl.