After last year’s disappointing attendance, the District’s college bowl game looks poised for a comeback — at least as far as the economy goes.
After drawing stingy attendance its first two years, the game — rebranded this year as the Military Bowl — is on pace to have its biggest crowd in its three-year history on Wednesday, according to a news release by the game organizers. The inaugural bowl drew fewer than 29,000 fans and the 2009 bowl drew worse — just 23,000 people filled RFK Stadium, roughly half the stadium’s capacity.
But things are looking up this year and the bowl’s economic impact may improve this year. According to organizers, University of Maryland and East Carolina University have sold out their ticket allotment (each school gets 10,000 tickets) and several new sponsors have joined on.
New to the bowl this year are Northrop Grumman, the title sponsor; ITT, another defense contractor; Hyundai, Navy Federal Credit Union, Miller-Coors and Powerade.
