By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
There’s uncertainty about the tie-ins to the 48th Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, but there’s no doubt about it being a primetime event on the national sports calendar.
Thursday when the 2024 college football bowl season schedule was unveiled, the I-Bowl got great news – a Saturday night, Dec. 28 kickoff on ESPN at 8:15 p.m. CT.
That’s two weeks later than last year’s Saturday night playing date and on the brink of the kickoff of the College Football Playoff. Instead of a short run-up to the game after the conference championship weekend, bowl season will be in full swing with copious ESPN-platform promotions of the local bowl, along with the extended national media exposure leading into the contest.
There will be one other bowl game staged that evening, the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio kicking at 6:30. There will be an NFL game at 7 o’clock on the NFL Network, which will not involve either pro franchise of strong local interest – Dallas or New Orleans, both already slated for Sunday games that weekend.
Who will be in the game? There’s no remaining Pac 12 Conference to provide its representative. On the other side of the matchup, Army is slated to play in Shreveport if the Cadets are bowl-eligible – but with the major reshuffling across the nation of bowl tie-ins, there figure to be shifts which could alter Army’s participation.
“With the ongoing conference realignment in college football, we have been working with multiple parties to secure an exciting matchup for the 2024 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl,” said the bowl’s longtime executive director, Missy Setters. “We look forward to hosting two deserving teams in Shreveport in late December.”
Whatever teams make it to Independence Stadium, bowl officials were ecstatic Thursday about the date and time and TV platform for the 2024 edition.
“We are thrilled for another Saturday night game, and we are excited to create another amazing game day atmosphere at Independence Stadium for local and traveling fans,” said 2024 Independence Bowl Foundation chair Claire Rebouche in a press release. “I think this game date and time is outstanding for our community, and the primetime slot on ESPN allows us to highlight Radiance Technologies, the Shreveport-Bossier City community and our bowl to millions of people throughout the country.”
Added Setters: “This game date is ideal for our local community – providing a great opportunity for everyone to enjoy the Christmas and holiday season before coming out on Saturday, December 28 to continue the great support of our community’s bowl.”
Rebouche suggested on her Facebook page that bowl tickets would make a great Christmas stocking stuffer. The bowl promoted renewal for patrons who purchased tickets in previous years on its RadianceTechologiesIndependenceBowl.com website and noted July 31 is renewal deadline. Tickets will go on sale to anyone in mid-August.
The 2024 game will the 32nd I-Bowl in a row to be televised on an ESPN-affiliated network.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com