CEO Mark Neville talked about the highlights of the Holiday Bowl.
The mission of the non-profit San Diego Bowl Game Association is to generate tourism, visibility and economic impact for the San Diego region by producing the Holiday Bowl and other outstanding events and experiences for visitors and local fans of all ages. The San Diego Bowl Game Association is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization which produces the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl and a year-around festival of events.
In conjunction with the holiday bowl, there is year-around festival of events like wiener dog races. bocci ball, and golf. Student athletes, bands, and cheerleaders have a great experience visiting navy ships like USS Theodore Roosevelt, Sea World, the Zoo. The pageantry at the game is spectacular with parachutes flying in into the stadium.
There is a Holiday Bowl parade — largest balloon parade in the country. Interns count the balloons in Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, and the Holiday Bowl Parade always adds just one more. After games, everyone enjoys the excitement of trophy presentations. COVID-19 impacted the Holiday Bowl with game cancellations. There wasn’t a lot of tourism or the excitement of student arrivals. The organization had to tap into their reserves but look forward to future games.
Having the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference will bring new teams to San Diego like Notre Dame, Florida State, and Miami. The portfolio continues to expand to include organ transplant games, Cal State games, College basketball tournaments, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) football. The organization will have its own tourism agent to bring additional fans and students to San Diego.
Look for the big announcement coming soon. If you would like to volunteer for the Holiday Bowl organization, contact CEO Neville at mneville@holidaybowl.com.