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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYSJuly 18, 2018David FletcherAtlanta, Georgia DAVID FLETCHER: Morning, everyone. It is a great pleasure to be here at College Football Hall of Fame. My name is David Fletcher. I'm the Executive Director of Academy Sports and Outdoors Texas Bowl in Houston and as Kevin mentioned, the chair this year of the Football Bowl Association. On behalf of our entire membership and Wright Waters, our executive director, I want to thank all of you for being here today and the opportunity to share our great story of the college football post season. I want to start by offering special thanks to Commissioner Sankey, Herb Vincent and the entire SEC staff for our efforts in making this week a reality. I also want to thank my friend, Gary Stokan and the Chick-fil-A team for their support in making this week possible and for everything they do this college football. I can't think of a better place to revisit the year that was than right here in the shadows of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Steps away in the final event of last year's bowl season, the legend of TUA was born, and Alabama Crimson Tide were crowned national champions to cap the most memorable bowl seasons to date. The passion and pageantry on display that evening was culmination of the 24-day celebration of the 8,000 student-athletes that got to participate in bowls coming from every part in this country. The impact of the bowl stretches well beyond the field, well beyond campus, and well beyond those singular moments and woven into the very fabric of college football. The impact that the bowls have on the college football experience to borrow the mantra from our gracious host here just means more. It starts with a tremendous impact on higher education. Over $560 million was distributed in 2017 to the SBF conferences, a truly remarkable impact. I mention 8,000 student-athletes, and over 98 percent of them based on the surveying from the NCAA and Ohio University had a positive experience through the bowls. Those experiences extended well beyond just the field, but into 31,000 plus students as a whole participating as band members, as spirit group members, as student trainers, and managers all getting a chance to share those unique experiences beyond their college years. In the end, 39 champions were crowned. 39 teams ended their season on a winning note. That winning carried over into the 35 communities that hosted bowl games and host bowl games annually as they, too, share in the success of the post season. The bowl industry generates over $1.5 billion collectively in direct economic impact in those 35 communities based on research from San Diego and George Washington University. That's real money going into those communities mostly in the times of the year where tourism is down. The visibility of those communities is at all-time high. Over 213 million viewers watched the games on ESPN last year. And that number continues to deliver great visibility for those markets. It's not just about the direct economic impact of those communities. It's about the charities. Millions of dollars given to local charities like the DePelchin Children's Center in Houston that are doing great things in our communities. Let's not forget the bowls drive the best regular season in all of sports. October and November are as exciting as they have ever been as teams jockey for position at all levels of the system. Getting into the football post season matters. It matters to coaches. It matters to teams. It matters to administrators. And it matters to fans. And when you look at the impact and that energy carried over to viewership on ESPN, up double digits from last year, and continues to be the most watched period of the year all year on ESPN annually. That does not mean we are not without opportunities to get better as an industry. And as a membership, we are focussed on doing that. In a year ahead, we'll continue to focus collectively on opportunities to create an even better post season for college football fans and participants. And it all starts right here in Atlanta as the Celebration Bowl will kick off right across the street at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 15th and head to the grand finale that Bill and his team at the CFP will put on for us all in Santa Clara. I can't wait to see it unfold. Thank you all for your support of college football and support of the bowls, and I'm happy to answer any questions at this time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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