The Sun Belt Conference, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference and ESPN announced a partnership Tuesday to create the Myrtle Beach Bowl, which will begin in 2020.
The three conference partners, which each have active TV contracts with ESPN, will rotate and participate in the Myrtle Beach Bowl up to four times between 2020 and 2025.
"Today was a formality, but it gets it on the books," Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said. "It allows the Sun Belt now to focus on the rest of our bowl relationships. This is an added one. It's an ESPN bowl. In today's world, games that have the ESPN ownership have great security and financial stability."
The Myrtle Beach Bowl will be played at Coastal Carolina's 15,000-seat Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C., and will be televised on ESPN networks.
"We are pleased to bring postseason college football to the greater Myrtle Beach area and are thrilled to have representation from three of our conference partners: Conference USA, MAC and Sun Belt," said Pete Derzis, ESPN senior vice president of college sports programming and ESPN Events, via a news release.
Per NCAA rules, the Sun Belt is allowed to have five guaranteed bowl affiliations per season (30 assured appearances in a six-year period).
Because a member of the Sun Belt is not assured a spot in the Myrtle Beach Bowl every season, the Sun Belt still will have five guaranteed bowl appearances. The specific lineup of bowl games beyond 2020 is expected to vary, depending on which conferences are selected for the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
"As we go forward, we'll round out the rest of our slots with existing relationships in some shape or form," Benson said.
The creation of the Myrtle Beach Bowl is the Sun Belt's second ESPN-affiliated bowl partnership, joining the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
In 2018, the Sun Belt is tied to the New Orleans Bowl, the Dollar General Bowl, the Camellia Bowl, the Cure Bowl and the Arizona Bowl.
Sports on 11/14/2018