Holiday Bowl Officials Like Payout, Television Figures

Despite the most one-sided Holiday Bowl in its 11-year history, John Reid is smiling.

Reid, executive director of the annual college football game, said Tuesday that the 1988 game--in which Oklahoma State defeated Western Athletic Conference champion Wyoming, 62-14--exceeded its guaranteed payout to each team and had its best television ratings ever.

“The thing the Holiday Bowl gets the most credit for is the thing over which it has the least control, and that was the exciting games we had in the past,” Reid said. “This year I wish we could have had a little bit more control, but it didn’t work out that way. In spite of that, it was a very exciting year for us.”

The 1988 guarantee was $850,000 each. Reid said the exact figures weren’t in, but the payout figures will be more than $907,000.

“We set a goal last year to be (at) a million dollars within 2 years,” Reid said. “How far above a million we might go remains to be seen. There’s only certain avenues we have available to us to raise our team payout. We had a full house this year at an increased ticket price, and I would not like for us to look at that avenue again this year . . . That leaves television revenue and sponsorship income, and those are the two areas that we will be working at very hard.”

Bigger payouts give the game a better chance of attracting highly ranked teams such as Oklahoma State, with Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders.

Reid says that even if payouts continue to increase, he wants to keep the affiliation with the WAC. The bowl and the conference signed a contract last year that extends through 1992.

“I think overall that the WAC is a stronger football conference then it has been,” Reid said. “I think it gets stronger each year.”

The 1988 game drew a 6.1 television rating, compared to 4.1 in 1987. A rating represents the percentage of television households in which a program is being watched.

Reid, who will meet with members of the Holiday Bowl committee the weekend of Feb. 3, will discuss a possible extension of the ESPN contract, which has a year to run. Reid said the network seems interested.

“All things considered, from a business and financial standpoint, the game was a enormous success,” Reid said. “Despite the lopsided game we are coming away from it feeling very, very good and very optimistic about our future.”