dGood morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

One of the things that I’ve come to learn while running Extra Points is that a great way to understand how a particular thing works…is to do that thing.

So when I wanted to better understand how the NIL marketplace worked… I signed a bunch of athletes to NIL deals.

When I wanted to better understand how college sports video games were made…we made a computer game.

And today, I’m thrilled to announce our most ambitious endeavor yet.

We’re sponsoring our own bowl game. Seriously.

Introducing the Extra Points Bowl

The Extra Points Bowl, part of the Opendorse Bowl Series, will be played on Nov 23, 2024, at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, right next to the NFL Hall of Fame.

The bowl will feature either the top ranked NCAA Playoff participants in the D-III Ohio Athletic Conference and the D-III Presidents’ Athletic Conference. The top non-playoff teams from the North Coast Athletic Conference and the Heartland Athletic Conference will play in an additional bowl game earlier in the day as part of the Opendorse Bowl Series. The Extra Points Bowl will also be streamed via FloSports. Additional matchup, kickoff time, ticketing and broadcast information will be available at a later date.

Wait, why is a sports business and policy newsletter sponsoring a D-III bowl game?

Great question.

I actually wrote about D-III bowl games back in January. With over 240 schools playing D-III football, and with only 32 earning playoff spots, there are a lot of very good programs without any postseason opportunities. Without massive television broadcast deals, the economics behind those games becomes more challenging as well.

The Opendorse Series was announced in January, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, even after I wrote my initial story. When I learned that the games still didn’t have individual sponsors, I began the conversation with multiple conference executives involved, eventually leading us to this moment.

There are a few specific reasons I really want to do this.

Part of that is because of who I am and where I grew up. I’m based in Chicago, but I grew up in Granville, Ohio, a few blocks away from the NCAC’s Denison University. I spent much of my childhood on and around the campuses of the OAC and NCAC. My sister and brother-in-law went to Case Western Reserve (who plays football in the PAC), and I was so close to going there myself that I even paid the school a dorm deposit. I’ve watched more CWRU football games than I have with some FBS teams.

I grew up around these institutions, and I care about them. I know what kinds of students they serve, what they mean to their communities, and how D-III athletics fits into their institutional missions. The athletes at Muskingum and Wooster work just as hard as the ones at Ohio and Toledo, and they deserve a unique, celebratory experience as well. When I learned I could have the opportunity to help provide that, I wanted to do it.

I also want to better understand the true nuts and bolts behind collegiate event management. In a world where every athletic department is trying to figure out how to earn more revenue, cut expenses and provide new experiences, everybody is going to look at special events in a new light. It’s one thing for me to read an event management textbook or interview bowl operators. It’s another thing for me to cut my own check and be involved myself. I’d rather put my skin in the game.

Finally, bowl games are supposed to be fun. Extra Points is supposed to be fun. I want this game to be fun, and we’re going to do everything we can to make this unique for the players, the schools, the fans, and all of you along for the ride.

That’s right. We want you to be a part of this experience

I’d love for that to mean that you’ll join us at the game. I’ll be there, of course, as will my business partner Dennis Alshuler, and I hope to see many of our friends and Extra Points readers. We’ll be giving away tickets and will have more info once we get closer to the game.

But we’ll also be sharing a lot of the behind the scenes process with you. What should we try to get for our athlete bowl swag bags? Can we book a flyover for this game? Should we do a trophy, a championship belt, rings, or something else? What can we do during, before and after the event to both make this special and meaningful for the athletes, but also, you know….presented by a deeply-online college sports newsletter? We’ll be sharing it all with you, and we want to hear from you.

We also want your help

We made a financial contribution to help make this event happen, but to make it the best bowl game possible, we can’t do it alone. If your company is interested in potentially helping with in-kind services (shirts, food, promotion, signage, athlete gift bags sponsorship, the ability to make a garish bowl sponsor sports jacket with the Extra Points logo, etc.), we absolutely want to talk to you.

I’m going to be working my Rolodex of college sports business connections and calling in some favors for sure…but if you want to be a part of the Extra Points Bowl in some capacity, shoot me an email at Matt@ExtraPointsMB.com. The event could certainly use more partners to help with in-kind donations!

Media members with additional questions about the event can also reach me here, or at matt@extrapointsmb.com.

Thanks for reading, everybody. I’m thrilled about this, and I hope to see you all in Canton!