Football Game Attracts National Attention to Area

Many a sponsor have come and gone during the Independence Bowl’s 44- year history.

However, for the last 28 years, there has been one constant – Shreveport-Bossier’s college football game being televised across the country on the ESPN family of networks.

That “constant” will remain in place the next six years, after a recent extension to the current agreement between the Bowl and the network. The final year of the extension – 2025 – will be the Bowl’s 50th anniversary.

“ESPN is the leader in sports, and they are the leader in college football – especially bowls,” said Missy Setters, executive director of the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. “When a fan wants to watch a game during bowl season, they know what channel they are going to flip to first. We are extremely proud to host an event in this city that is broadcast nationally on ESPN to millions of viewers, and I think the people in the Ark-La-Tex and the city of Shreveport can be extremely proud of all the work they do that gets highlighted on ESPN every year.”

Last year’s game between the University of Miami and Louisiana Tech drew 2.7 million viewers. That’s a lot of eyeballs seeing and hearing about our region for three-plus hours.

“This game is a nationwide commercial for the Shreveport-Bossier City area, and having it on the worldwide leader in sports is very important,” Setters said. “When you think of bowl season, you think of ESPN, and the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl is entrenched in that lineup.”

Not only does Shreveport-Bossier – and those cities’ attractions – receive recognition during the game, but Shreveport and the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl will be mentioned often in ESPN’s bowl previews and schedules.

“That is the ultimate goal – as many viewers of our bowl as possible – to promote our tremendous title sponsor, Radiance Technologies, and to promote this great city,” Setters said. “During the actual game broadcast you see numerous shots of the city’s entertainment areas, historical areas and general areas of interest.”

There are approximately 40 bowl games scheduled for this year. Many – but not all – are televised by ESPN. Setters believes our game being on an ESPN network is significant to the players and coaches.

“I think it means a great deal,” Setters said. “There are so many competing games across so many competing networks throughout the season, but once you get to bowl season, you know that you are going to be on ESPN, and in traditional years are not going to compete with another game. These two teams have the stage all to themselves on ESPN, and I think that’s something that is very important and a great experience for the players in our game.”

As of this writing, the date and time for this year’s Independence Bowl is Saturday, Dec. 26, 6 p.m. The game is scheduled to feature Army and a team from the Pac-12.

To learn more about the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, you may visit www.radiancetechnologiesindependencebowl.com.