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Rice University Athletics
Bayou Bucket Press Conference Transcript
8/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 31, 2011
Bayou Bucket Press Conference Transcript
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Lone Star Sports & Entertainment President Jamey Rootes
Rice University Athletic Director Rick Greenspan
University of Houston Athletic Director Mack Rhoades
Rice University Head Coach David Bailiff
University of Houston Head Coach Kevin Sumlin
Lone Star Sports & Entertainment President Jamey Rootes
(opening statement) "It would be an understatement to say that we are excited to bring Houston's premier college football rivalry to one of the great sports stadiums on the planet here at Reliant Stadium. We're excited to be working with these two great institutions to take what is already an outstanding contest over years and work to raise it to a new level - a new level for the student-athletes, for the alumni, for our entire community, all the great football fans that we know that we have here in this community; create a cherished annual community tradition of the Bayou Bucket.
"We have a little bit of experience in this regard. We've been working over the past few years with our bowl game, the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, which is now one of the best attended bowl games in America. Last year, we brought the Battle of the Piney Woods, in its 85th year, here to Reliant Stadium and the crowd was the largest in that rivalry's history. And we hope to have similar results as we work with these two great institutions to bring the Bayou Bucket to Reliant Stadium.
"This is another symbol of our commitment to the game of football at all levels, from peewee to the pro game and everything in the middle. Football is a big deal to us, football is a big deal to Houston and to Texas, and we are so thankful to (Houston Athletic Director) Mack (Rhoades) and to (Rice Athletic Director) Rick (Greenspan) and to (Rice Head) Coach (David) Bailiff and to (Houston Head) Coach (Kevin) Sumlin for trusting us with such an important event. Trust is earned; we know that. We've earned an opportunity and we look forward to working hard to make a difference over the next two years and hopefully for a long, long time to have the Bayou Bucket here at Reliant Stadium."
Rice University Athletic Director Rick Greenspan
(opening statement) "Welcome everybody and thank you. I share Jamey's sentiments. It's really an honor to be here. This is a marvelous, marvelous organization. We thank Lone Star (Sports &) Entertainment, specifically we thank the Texans, the McNair family, Jamey and his family, and the Kubiak family. I have had a chance in different lifetimes, I guess, to get to know these folks at different places. Jamey and I have some shared experiences back there in the Midwest at Indiana when he was a distinguished soccer coach, and obviously the Kubiak family has meant a great deal to Rice for a long period of time. We have a young Kubiak on our team who is a terrific receiver (Klein Kubiak). And then the McNair family has been very supportive and very generous at our institution, so we're bringing this family together, I think, for a notable event.
"We'd also like to thank our friends at FOX Sports for the new relationship that they have entered into with both the conference (Conference USA) and with this game. We think that the power of their media will help us distribute this game and market this game to a broader audience than either institution could do without their great support.
"Obviously, we'll play here in '12 and '13. Next year will be the Rice home game; we're still working on final details with Coach Sumlin to make both games Rice home games, I think in '13, too. (laughter) We'll see if we can pull that off. But this really does represent a unique marketing opportunity for us to play our rival.
"This experience is not unlike some others that have occurred nationally, and those that are fans of college football will note that Oregon and LSU, Penn State, Illinois have all tried to grow the presence of their collegiate football programs by playing in some neutral sites and in some NFL stadiums. So we are very enthusiastic about this. I've had a chance to work, as has Mack, with Jamey and this organization on the Texas Bowl. They're what I would call `get after it' people. They work hard, they sell hard, they deliver and for us to grow our marketing capabilities, not only in the city of Houston but in the Southwest, is very important to us, so thank you."
University of Houston Athletic Director Mack Rhoades
(opening statement) "Good afternoon, or good morning, and welcome. Like everybody here at the table, we're extremely excited and thrilled to be a part of this. I think there are certain opportunities that come along that you just can't pass up, and the opportunity to work with the Texans and, as Rick mentioned, Mr. McNair and his family and also Jamey. In two years that I've been here, I've been able to form a terrific relationship with Jamey Rootes and his staff, and they're first class. They do it the right way, and they do it the right way the first time. For us to be able to become a partner with them I think says a lot in terms of where this game will head and where we expect it to go, and certainly the great respect that we have for Rice and for Rick and for Coach Bailiff and the job that they're doing there.
"I think it's certainly an exciting time for the city of Houston, and this really gives us an opportunity to add a seventh game in the city of Houston. We'll continue to play six games, and hopefully even more, at Robertson, but this is a seventh game. And we really want this game to become and to grow beyond just our fanbases, that this can really be a game that the people of the city of Houston certainly can embrace and be excited about.
"I think the other piece for us is the student-athlete experience. We talk about Reliant Stadium, and let's not take it for granted. It is one of the nicest arenas, stadiums in the entire country, and the opportunity for our student-athletes to participate in this stadium I think is great. I know our team is absolutely excited to be part of that. I also think the partnership with FOX and what they bring to the table, both for the conference - Conference USA - but for this game, is tremendous. I know that they're working hard and they're going to do everything they can to promote the game, along with Lone Star Sports & Entertainment. Again, I think it's a tremendous partnership for all of us to be a part of.
"Finally, for us, it is a revenue stream for us; a consistent revenue stream each and every year that's important. As we grow our program, and I know as Rice is growing their program, I think those are things that are extremely important. We're excited about it, and again, I don't think we could be in partnership with anybody better. I really appreciate Jamey and everything he's done to work diligently to make this deal come to fruition. Thank you."
Rice University Head Coach David Bailiff
(opening statement) "I've had the opportunity to work with Lone Star Sports and Jamey and Heather (Houston) and their team in the '08 Texas Bowl, an incredible experience for the University, and more importantly for the student-athletes. Everything they do is first-class; everything they do is with enthusiasm; and once again in 2010 when we opened last season with Texas here, I can tell you our players really enjoy it. It is a great venue. It's going to be great for the fans, and Jamey, I look forward to really growing this. I think it's a great partnership. I'm so excited about it that I think maybe we ought to go ahead and move it this year, Mack. (laughter)
University of Houston Head Coach Kevin Sumlin (in response to Coach Bailiff's suggestion) "Not yet."
(opening statement) "As the last guy to talk, I just want to echo what everybody else has said. I think from a coach's standpoint, from our team's standpoint, we're grateful to Jamey and Lone Star and the McNair family, everybody who is involved in this. But from a pure football perspective, it's a tremendous opportunity when it comes to recruiting and being able to talk to young men about playing in probably the nicest venue in the country when it comes to football.
"All kids who are growing up in this area have an opportunity to see Reliant Stadium, either on television or get here for some sort of event, let's face it: they dream about being able to play on that field. This is a tremendous opportunity to put us and give us that kind of opportunity to give the young men, and for us it's an exciting deal. Our team will be excited - they are excited about this - and knowing that they're going to be able to run out on the field in one of the great, great venues in all of sports and be a part of a new tradition that's, as Mack said and a couple of other people have said, will give us a chance to expand our fan base beyond our alumni and be embraced by the city of Houston. So for us and for our team, it's an exciting time."
Jamey Rootes
(on why the agreement is a two-year deal and whether there are longer-term plans for the series) "You have to have an end date. It was made fair; you have both teams' home games put into the pot. Our hope is, and I think we all share this, that we can prove this concept out; that this game can be much bigger by being played at Reliant Stadium. We'll certainly put our shoulder to the wheel to build the fan base for the game, demonstrate the concept, and our hope is for a long, long time the Bayou Bucket will be right here at Reliant Stadium."
Kevin Sumlin
(on the benefits in recruiting and exposure from playing at Reliant Stadium) "Like I hit on, or alluded to, I think it's a great opportunity for our current players that have an opportunity to know that they're going to play in this venue. When it comes to recruiting, as I said, I don't think that there's a young guy out there that doesn't dream of playing in this stadium. To be able to talk about that in the home and know that you can guarantee that he's going to be able to do that is a big deal. Beyond the exposure of just our fans and our alumni as was alluded to here earlier, I think it's a chance to create more fans from the Houston area outside of our alumni base, and I think that's important as both our programs grow and the game grows."
David Bailiff
(on the benefits in recruiting and exposure from playing at Reliant Stadium) "To be excited and actually to bring when you're in homes, and we will have to get with Lone Star, or you can bring recruits into the facility, because can be a selling point that would make a difference in having a young man commit to you that you have an opportunity to play in a venue like Reliant Stadium. Our team is excited because of the experiences of the past, and I do, I really believe that this will help. I think this will turn into a big game where, I know when Lone Star gets involved, I've seen the results and I bet this continues to grow for many years to come where it's going to be one of those rivalry games in comparison with a Texas-Oklahoma. I'm that excited about it; our football team is that excited about it."
Rick Greenspan
(on selling the neutral-site game to alumni rather than having it on campus) "I don't think that there is any reasonable way to have significant progress without making some change, and change sometimes can be uncomfortable for people. Our institution is committed to playing our games on our campus.
"This represents several things, of which I think many of them have been addressed. Mack touched on very lightly but very importantly the fact that it gives us a revenue game each year. The way the conference sets up its distribution right now, when Mack and Houston comes to Rice there's no revenue, and vice versa. So this will help even out the revenue for us, which is critical for us to reapply to our program.
"Secondly, we have talked about the recruiting piece of it; and third, I think what is so critical is this relationship that we have recently formed with FOX as a conference. As we've had that discussion, they have been very outspoken about the strength of the Houston market as it relates to the conference package and their desire to make this game one of the significant games in the conference season, which I think will give it a very, very good opportunity to always appear on a Saturday evening. This year's game is not on a Saturday and we all recognize that, but I think the opportunity to have perhaps a little more influence and balance to keep the game on the best day of the week for football is very meaningful to us and I think will be very meaningful to our fans."
Mack Rhoades
(on selling the neutral-site game to alumni rather than having it on campus) "I think I'd echo those sentiments. We talked about the student-athlete experience and what a great opportunity for our young men to be able to play in an NFL stadium, but I think it's a great opportunity for our fans, too. The amenities here are second to none and so I think we add that value, certainly, to the mix.
"For us, we're going to still have our six home games, and that's really important to us. As we try to become more competitive and as we try to build our program, again, from that perspective this is a seventh game in the city of Houston, and that's really important to us. Hopefully, quite frankly, we can get to a point in time where we've got eight games in the city of Houston, and that's really our vision for our program. I think you add the recruiting piece to it, the revenue piece to it, so certainly it makes sense.
"Finally, Rick mentioned again, and we've all mentioned it, I think the opportunity to partner with Lone Star and just their philosophy in terms of just getting after it and making this work and making this a successful event. Finally, too, this becomes a special event now. It really does, and that's the way we're treating it. It's like a bowl game for us and for our kids, so I think that's a great environment for our fans and that's what we're going to work hard to bring forth."
Rick Greenspan
(on selling the neutral-site game to alumni rather than having it on campus) "One other point that I'd be neglectful not to mention is I think it's a well-known fact that Rice is one of the smallest, if not the smallest, Division I-A football playing institutions, and the success of our program to some degree is also going to be based on recruiting fans that perhaps are not alums. I don't know that every living alum would fill our stadium, and so very similar to a bowl game, for the Texas Bowl to be successful, last year they would hope that Illinois brings fans and Baylor brings fans, but the city of Houston and Harris County need to support that game. I think there's a chance to broaden our marketing reach, whether it's television, radio, billboards, the great groundwork that the Texans have done in many areas to help us try and convert some folks who are good football fans to Rice fans."
