Tickets went on sale this month for D.C.’s fourth annual Military Bowl. The bowl, presented by Northrop Grumman and benefiting the USO, is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., Dec. 28 at RFK Stadium. It will feature the U.S. Naval Academy against a bowl qualifier from the Atlantic Coast Conference, pending eligibility. Beck has been the bowl’s president since its debut in 2008, when it was sponsored by Eagle Bank. So tell us what a college bowl game president does.
It’s all aspects of running the event. … I’m responsible for budgets, finance, sponsorships, marketing, PR. Not only running the game itself but that includes all the [bowl-related] events in the city that week.
How did things change when Northrop Grumman took over title sponsorship last year?
First off, let me say that our [title] partnership with Eagle Bank was fantastic, and they got us started. But now we have a Military Bowl and it’s benefiting the USO. So we have an identity and a purpose to go after and really be passionate about something.
Last year you hit 38,794 fans at RFK Stadium. You feeling 40,000 this year?
Yeah. We really have a great momentum going now with Northrop Grumman putting out their employees [to volunteer], the city employees, the contracts that we have with the team are a lot better than what we had originally, so we’re now able to draw a lot more fans. … The teams now contract for 25,000 seats apiece. It wasn’t like that in the beginning.
So you’ve got the marquee sponsor, attendance is building, but how do you build a bowl’s stature?
I think we’re getting there. … Last year we had 3,500 hotel rooms [booked] and a total of $18 million in impact on the city. The first year the game was at 11 a.m. and was hard to even tailgate.
— Liz Farmer
