The Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl has become more visible and clearly more aggressive in Year 2 as it prepares for kickoff on Dec. 30 at Arizona Stadium.
It sold 20,425 tickets last year; the game’s founder, Tucson attorney Ali Farhang, insists that the Friday afternoon game will sell more than 30,000 this year.
Two positives: The game will kick off at 3 p.m. rather than last year’s 5:30, when it was 44 degrees. It will be played on a Friday, the climax to two days of downtown festivities.
Farhang hired Tucson marketing whiz Mike Feder to be the bowl’s executive director; Feder is a tireless worker and trusted face in the community. A year ago, the Arizona Bowl barely had three months preparation.
New this year: The Arizona Bowl Kickoff Luncheon will be held Oct. 14 at the DoubleTree Hotel at noon. Tucsonan Kerri Strug, darling gold medalist of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, will be honored with the Governor’s Award. The key speaker will be Arizona Hall of Fame linebacker Ricky Hunley.
Strug and Hunley? You can’t beat that twosome. (Tickets for the luncheon are available; phone 520-202-4838 and at novahomeloans.com.
The only mystery, as always, are the chosen teams from the Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences. Those who would likely attract and bring the most fans would be bowl-starved New Mexico State and UNLV, both within driving distance of Tucson.
An Aggies vs. Rebels game would be a grand slam.
