C-USA Partners With Miami Beach Bowl

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MIAMI – Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced today the league’s partnership with the Miami Beach Bowl played at Marlins Park in Miami beginning in 2014.

The game will be owned and administered by the American Athletic Conference, which will hire a full-time operations staff that will be based in Marlins Park. Television and title sponsorship agreements will be announced at a later date. Conference USA is slotted to face a team from the American in 2014 and 2015.

“Conference USA is thrilled to field a team in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl,” Banowsky said. “We appreciate the opportunity to give our student-athletes and fans yet another tremendous destination.”

“We are proud to be able to stage this game at Marlins Park – the site of the original Orange Bowl, where some of the greatest players and coaches in college and professional football history have performed,” said American Athletic Conference Senior Associate Commissioner Nick Carparelli. “We have received great support from the Miami and South Florida communities and that ongoing partnership will make this game successful.”

“We are very pleased to host the Miami Beach Bowl at Marlins Park,” said Marlins President David Samson. “Bringing postseason football back to the site of the Orange Bowl should bring a smile to the faces of college football fans throughout South Florida. The history of college football in Miami is replete with fond memories of great players making historic plays on these hallowed grounds. Marlins Park is a perfect venue for exciting college football, and we look forward to many memorable matchups in the years to come.”

Marlins Park opened in 2012 and serves as the home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins. The state-of-the-art facility will seat 34,000 for football and has 50 luxury suites, a retractable roof, climate controlled temperatures and a pristine natural grass playing surface.