Emerald Bowl
Marquee Matchup Set for December 27

By Doug Kelly

"It was awesome, just an awesome experience for our players, our coaches and our fans. I think you have a great chance to grow this game and build something big-time."

Oregon State head coach Mike Riley was almost as enthusiastic about his Beavers' Emerald Bowl experience as he was about winning a bowl game for the third time in four years. Last year's Emerald Bowl championship, a 21-14 victory over Maryland, concluded a 9-4 campaign for the Beavers, who are the Pac-10's second-best team over the past two seasons.

"It was a lot of fun to come to San Francisco and play an ACC team," Riley said. "Believe me, we appreciate everything the Emerald Bowl crew did for us."

In only six years the Emerald Bowl has established itself as a primetime star in the 34-contest bowl lineup. This year's clash between the Pacific-10 and Atlantic Coast Conference teams will be televised for the third consecutive year in prime time by ESPN on Sat., Dec. 27, with kickoff set for 5 p.m. PST.

The 2007 Emerald Bowl established the second-highest in-stadium attendance in the game's history (32,517; 88 percent capacity) and television rating (3.60). That was good for eighth place among the 27 non-Bowl Championship Series telecasts.

The all-time Emerald Bowl attendance and television record came in the megahit 2006 game, when UCLA and Florida State met in a first-ever intersectional matchup and attracted a standing-room-only 40,331 spectators. The Seminoles and Bruins earned a colossal 4.48 national TV rating.

The bowl's co-founder and only executive director, Gary Cavalli, his two-person staff and a cadre of talented board members and volunteers have nurtured and grown the Emerald Bowl to unusual prominence in such a short amount of time.

"Having our game on Saturday evening, the most traditional day in college football, and once again in prime time, certainly reflects the high regard in which ESPN holds our game," Cavalli says. "ESPN likes our conference affiliations, our location and the reputation the game has established nationally. The last two games each proved that the late-afternoon kickoff was the most desirable for fans at the game and those watching around the country."

The Emerald Bowl's title sponsor, Diamond Foods Inc., has been with the game since its inception and is in the third year of a four-year agreement, which runs through 2009.

"We look forward to another exciting matchup in this year's Emerald Bowl," said Michael J. Mendes, Diamond's president and chief executive officer.

The bowl's agreement with the Pac-10 calls for the No. 4 or 5 Pac-10 finisher to come to San Francisco. ACC guidelines for its various bowl obligations mean that the Emerald will receive a middle-tier representative from a conference that sent eight teams to postseason play for the second consecutive season.

According to research by the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, the 2007 Emerald Bowl had a total economic impact of over $14.4 million to greater San Francisco. "Since generating tourism revenue for the city of San Francisco was one of our goals when we created the bowl, we are very pleased with these numbers," Cavalli said.

More than 8,000 Oregon State fans flocked to San Francisco and spent the better part of a week patronizing S.F.'s hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and shopping outlets.

An additional 49 percent of ticket buyers came into S.F. from the greater Bay Area and 15 percent journeyed from the Central Valley, making the Emerald Bowl a truly regional event.

The events leading up to the Emerald Bowl are as anticipated as the game itself. Visiting Alcatraz and boating underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, team meal events throughout the week and a first-class kickoff luncheon at the historic Westin St. Francis Hotel in Union Square all provide for an incredible week of lifetime memories for players, coaches, fans and bowl officials.