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THE OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF THE STADIUM EVENTS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

ISSUE 1 • AUGUST 12, 2014

DAWN OF A NEW ERA

With the advent of the first College Football Playoff National Championship history will be made on North Texas soil this January 12 BY JAIME ARON

he landscape of college football — no, make that the nation’s entire sports scene — is getting a new look. A shiny marvel is rising like a skyscraper over an already bustling downtown. After years of waiting, fans are getting exactly what they hoped for: a playoff featuring two semifinals that feed into a national championship game, with the inaugural edition to be played right here in North Texas. That’s right: On Jan. 12, 2015, the first national champion in this new era of college football will be crowned in our back yard, at SPREADING THE WORD: Tommy Bain, chairman of the SEOC, sits in with George Dunham AT&T Stadium. The game will be and Craig Miller on SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket. televised on ESPN. “The conference commissioners of those de facto title games was Outcomes like that — have listened to a lot of feedback played in Fair Park on Jan. 2, 1978. championships decided by voters and delivered a system On that cold, sunny and, later, computers — left that gives everyone day, Joe Montana and everyone clamoring for a better what they wanted,” fifth-ranked Notre way of deciding the best team said Michael Kelly, the Dame upset Heisman in the land. What began in the Chief Operating Officer Trophy winner Earl early 1990s as the Bowl Coalition of the College Football Campbell and topbecame the Bowl Alliance, then Playoff organization. ranked Texas 38-10. became the Bowl Championship “Now that it’s here, The Fighting Irish Series. Flawed as they all people are awfully rode that romp, plus were, each iteration offered an excited about it. We a wave of upsets, all improvement, culminating in this want to make sure it’s the way to the top of highly anticipated new system. as special as it can be the final polls. It was So, how exactly does it work? The last National because we’ve got a dramatic rise, and A 13-person selection committee Championship to be high expectations for a questionable one will choose a top 25 based on decided in North Texas what it will become.” for fans of Alabama, several factors including strength was in 1978 when Notre Championships Dame ran past Texas in which went into its of schedule, head-to-head results, the Cotton Bowl. have been crowned bowl game ranked how they fared against common around here before, of third, beat the ninthopponents, whether they won course, back in the glory days of ranked team and only moved up to division and/or conference the Cotton Bowl. The most recent second. championships … and more.

www.stadiumeoc.com

ISSUE 1

AUGUST 12, 2014

DAWN OF A NEW ERA, CONT.

The rankings begin after the ninth week of the regular season. Set your DVRs now, as ESPN will broadcast the unveiling of the standings on Oct. 28, with updated standings released each of the next five Tuesday nights. Then comes the big finale on Dec. 7, “Selection Sunday,” the announcement of which teams will be duking it out for the trophy. And all that is just the appetizer. The main course is a revival of college football bingewatching on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. All six traditional major bowl games (Cotton, Sugar, Rose, Fiesta, Orange and Peach) will be played then, with back-toback-to-back action, including the two semifinals. This time around, the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl will host the semifinals, both on Jan. 1. (Also that day: the Cotton Bowl.) The dessert comes on a Monday night, Jan. 12, with the winner-take-all finale. “To be part of building what’s going to be the next great iconic sporting event, and to be doing it from scratch, is a real source of pride,” Kelly said. “As the postseason of college football has evolved, there have been some great events, and we can learn a lot from others leagues and other bowls. But there’s no blueprint because there’s never been an event quite like this. We’re taking the best practices from events we admire and working with a great staff and a great host committee.” Ah, yes, the host committee.

www.stadiumeoc.com

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF TEAMS UP WITH DONORSCHOOSE.ORG TO HELP FUNDING OF EXTRA YARD FOR TEACHERS Crowdfunding non-profit enables college football fans across the nation to help classrooms in need

he Irving-based College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation announced on Aug. 4 that it will partner with DonorsChoose.org to support education through the CFP’s Extra Yard for Teachers initiative. “We are honored to team up with DonorsChoose.org to assist in the awareness of the College Football Foundation’s philanthropic initiative, Extra Yard for Teachers,” said Bill Hancock Executive Director of the College Football Playoff. “With the resources and outreach available through DonorsChoose.org, we have an opportunity for a significant effect not only in our local community, but in classrooms across the country.” Extra Yard for Teachers consists of four program components: direct provision of resources, teacher recognition, inspiring a collegegoing culture, and professional development and leadership training. Through its partnership with DonorsChoose.org, the College Football Playoff Foundation will have the tools necessary to provide and direct financial support to assist public school teachers with classroom project requests. “Great college football starts in our schools, and too many teachers lack the resources their students need to prepare for a college education,” said Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org.

“We’re thrilled to have the College Football Playoff Foundation helping us mobilize football fans nationwide to support teachers in high-need classrooms across America.” To help support the College Football Foundation’s nationwide initiative Extra Yard for Teachers, please visit DonorsChoose.org/ college-football-playoff today. From August 4 through August 31, individuals who donate at least $10 through this link will be placed into a drawing to win two tickets to the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship to be played January 12 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. For more information on how you can get involved, please contact Shawn Moore, the College Football Playoff’s Director of Community Relations, at smoore@ collegefootballplayoff.com or visit www.collegefootballplayoff.com/ foundation.

BOOK A SPEAKER Interested in learning more about the 2015 College Football National Championship and what it means to the North Texas Region? Contact the SEOC about possibly booking a speaker at your next event. To learn more, email Tony Fay at tony@stadiumeoc.com.

ISSUE 1

AUGUST 12, 2014

DAWN OF A NEW ERA, CONT.

Whereas Kelly and his team are focused on putting on the best showcase for players, coaches and, ultimately, college football fans everywhere, the Stadium Events Organizing Committee (SEOC) is dedicated to making this game a memorable experience for everyone in North Texas, plus the 100,000-plus visitors who will flood the area for the game and all the activities surrounding it. The SEOC is led by Tommy Bain, a leader of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association since 1991, and it includes many of the people who put together the fan-friendly events that surrounded the recent Super Bowl and Final Four held at AT&T Stadium. Organizers are planning on borrowing pages from those playbooks, with concerts, a fan festival and much, much more. “Big events are fun,” Bain said. “Big events that are the first ever are even more fun.”

TITLE HOPES: The Defending National Champs, Florida State, open their season against Oklahoma State in AT&T Stadium on Aug. 30. They’re hoping for a return visit to North Texas 135 days later.

pump $300 million into the local economy, a figure few events can match. “The national championship game is going to be second only to the Super Bowl, I believe, in American sports, in terms of viewership and fans’ interest,” Bain said. “The Super Bowl had to build its reputation over many years. I think the College Football Playoff is going

“The Super Bowl had to build its reputation over many years. I think the College Football Playoff is going to just explode onto the scene immediately.” Profitable, too. A state study shows that this national championship game could

to just explode onto the scene immediately. “I think the challenge for us is to make sure this is a real celebration for the fans — not only for the fans of the schools, but the people who live in Dallas, Arlington, Fort Worth and throughout the region. We want them to get thoroughly involved and enjoy the event. We want them to take pride in knowing this is coming.” Yep, it’s coming. And the start of summer football practices means the countdown is on. Only fivemonths from today until kickoff and history is made.

WHAT IS THE STADIUM EVENTS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE? The SEOC functions as host committee/local organizing committee. In that role, the SEOC will act as liaison between the Irving-based College Football Playoff staff and the local community. The SEOC is tasked with ensuring that the North Texas region is ready to host the game and associated events by communicating and creating dialogue between local municipalities, governmental agencies, businesses, media partners and the greater community. While the SEOC will fill in operational gaps and work will local entities to position the North Texas region as a superior host, responsibility for the operations of the game and fan events lie with the College Football Playoff staff and its contracted vendors.