Once again the San Diego Bowl Games generated some serious cash for San Diego.
The Poinsettia and Holiday Bowl games combined brought in $35.3 million for the 2014 season, which is nearly $5 million more than the previous season, according to a study conducted by the SDSU Center for Hospitality and Tourism Research.
The games are organized by the nonprofit San Diego Bowl Game Association and have been held in San Diego since 1978.
On Dec. 23, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl between SDSU and United States Naval Academy generated $5 million. Although this game was the smaller of the two, it brought in a large crowd: more than 33,000 people, 9,000 of whom were out-of-towners. More than 5,000 hotel rooms were sold.
Four days later, on Dec. 27, the 37th Annual National University Holiday Bowl between Nebraska and USC came to town, which brought in over $30 million to San Diego. This included nearly 40,000 outside fans who traveled to San Diego for the game and about 56,000 people total at Qualcomm Stadium. About 25,000 hotel rooms were sold, which was nearly five times the amount sold for the Poinsettia Bowl.
According to a press release from San Diego Bowl Game Association, the mission of the nonprofit is to generate tourism, exposure, economic benefit and civic pride for San Diego and its citizens.
San Diego Bowl Game Associations President Vince Mudd said the games prove to be an economic asset to San Diego during the slowest time of the year for the local tourism industry.
