SAN ANTONIO, TX – The 2013 Valero Alamo Bowl will kick off on Monday, December 30 at 5:45 p.m. CST in the 65,000 seat Alamodome and be televised on ESPN.
This marks the third time in the bowl’s history the game will be played on a Monday night. It will also be the fourth December 30 kickoff in bowl history.
The last Monday night game featured the second overtime in bowl history as Missouri outlasted Northwestern 30-23 in the 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl. The last December 30 kickoff was in 2006 when Texas came from behind to beat Iowa 26-24 on a 72-yard Colt McCoy to Jamaal Charles touchdown pass.
“The chance to play unopposed from other games during the Monday Night Football window will allow the Valero Alamo Bowl to reach a wide national viewing audience,” said Derrick Fox, Valero Alamo Bowl President/CEO.
“The Monday kickoff should also work well for people traveling from out of town as they can spend the weekend in San Antonio, watch our game and then enjoy one of the nation’s best New Year’s Eve events in Celebrate San Antonio.”
Last year a standing room only crowd of 65,277 attended the 2012 Valero Alamo Bowl to watch Texas’ 31-27 win over Oregon State marking the game’s fifth sellout in the last seven years and the seventh game in the last eight where the outcome wasn’t decided until the final two minutes.
The game generated $40 million in total economic impact based on direct visitor spending of $23.4 million from the 33,580 out-of-towners who visited San Antonio last December, according to a survey conducted by Strategic Marketing Services and SportsEconomics.
The game earned a 4.8 rating meaning five of the last eight Valero Alamo Bowls now rank among the Top 15 slots for non-BCS bowls in ESPN history in terms of average household impressions.