The Blockbuster Bowl, still in its infancy, is trying to muscle in on football's traditional New Year's games by offering millions of dollars to win commitments from the Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences.
A representative of the bowl said Friday the conferences have been offered major financial payoffs if they sign long-term agreements to play in the Miami-based game.Such a contract, however, could jeopardize a proposed alliance among the Sugar, Orange, Cotton and Fiesta bowls.
The alliance would commit the Big East champion, the ACC champion and Notre Dame to the four-bowl arrangement, along with the champions of the Southeastern Conference, the Big Eight and Southwest Conference, plus two at-large teams.
Harper Davidson, president of the Orange Bowl Committee, said he was aware of the Blockbuster proposal, but was optimistic that it wouldn't derail the alliance.
"I don't see it as a rivalry," he said. "They are doing what they can do to get a good game."
But while Davidson said he hoped to formally sign the alliance next week, ACC assistant commissioner Tom Mickle said he now doubts his conference will make any commitments before January.
"We are committed to trying to make the coalition work," Mickle said, but added that the Blockbuster offer "certainly gets your attention."
John Paquette, a spokesman for the Big East, said conference officials have been committed to the alliance but also feel obligated to present the offer to the athletic directors of the member schools.
The Boston Globe reported the Blockbuster Bowl was offering $4.3 million per team.
Ken Haines, executive vice president of Raycom Inc., a Charlotte, N.C.-based sports media company that runs the bowl game, said Friday he couldn't confirm the specific amount of the offer.
But he said it was "in that neighborhood."
"It would be a very high paying bowl," he said. "It is the type of financial proposal we feel would be attractive to the two conferences to ensure it would be a dominant bowl."
The Big East is a relatively new football conference, but it includes prominent schools such as Miami, Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Other members are West Virginia, Boston College, Temple, Rutgers and Virginia Tech.
The ACC, meanwhile, is being strengthened by the addition of powerhouse Florida State.
Haines said Blockbuster officials approached the Big East and ACC because they are the only two major football conferences not currently tied to an existing bowl. Also, because of their geographic locations, it would be natural for them to play a bowl game in Florida, he said.
The Blockbuster Bowl, which was formed last year and will be played Dec. 28, was not part of the four-bowl alliance. This year's game matches Colorado against Alabama.
Davidson said the Blockbuster Bowl had an opportunity to join the alliance, but officials were more impressed with a presentation by the Fiesta Bowl and picked it for the fourth slot.
"I still think the alliance is a much better thing for the Big East and ACC, so they will not be tied up to one bowl," he said.
Mickle, of the ACC, similarly said that locking two conferences into one bowl game could limit opportunities to play for the national championship.
He said that the Rose Bowl, which annually pits the Big Ten champion against the Pac 10 winner, rarely has decided the national championship in recent years.