San Diego gains NCAA approval to host Poinsettia Bowl

SAN DIEGO -- Holiday Bowl officials received the go-ahead Wednesday from the NCAA to stage a second bowl game in the city.

The game, expected to be called the Poinsettia Bowl, will be played Dec. 22 at Qualcomm Stadium. It will be run by the same officials who will then stage the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 29.

Bowl officials will release more details next week, including the name of the title sponsor. The bowl, expected to have a 7 p.m. PST kickoff, will be televised.

"We're excited about the opportunity, and this is just going to add value to what our goal is with the Holiday Bowl, which is to generate an economic impact on the community," Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski said by phone from Phoenix, where he helped make the presentation to the NCAA on Tuesday.

"This is going to enhance the economy, especially since this is going to be during the week before Christmas, which is the toughest week of the year for our hotel industry," Binkowski said.

The game will pit a Mountain West Conference team against an at-large team. Binkowski said he's received letters of support from the Western Athletic Conference -- which used to send its champion to the Holiday Bowl -- Conference USA and the Naval Academy.

Having a tie-in with the Mountain West Conference gives San Diego State a chance to play in a hometown bowl game, although the Aztecs haven't been eligible for postseason play since going to the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl.

The new bowl will pay each team close to the old bowl minimum of $750,000.

Given the right matchup, the game could draw 40,000 fans, Binkowski said.

The Holiday Bowl has matched teams from the Pac-10 and Big 12 conferences since 1998. In 1999, San Diego State and seven other teams left the expanded WAC to form the Mountain West Conference.