The Fiesta Bowl has a dark cloud floating above Glendale, Arizona and now the bowl is officially fighting to remain a part of the BCS lineup. First up is a meeting with the NCAA to keep their bowl license. A meeting has been scheduled for April 28 in New Orleans and will coincide with the Bowl Championship Series meetings.
According to a report by The Arizona Republic the Fiesta Bowl has been invited to meet with a panel of 11 members on behalf of the NCAA to discuss the future of the bowl game's bowl license. Dennis Poppe, NCAA vice-president of baseball and football informed the Arizona newspaper that the Fiesta Bowl faces a possibility of having its four-year license revoked but that seems to be a worst-case scenario that is unlikely to occur. In the past bowl games have had licenses revoked due to poor attendance and finances, which the Fiesta Bowl has not suffered comparatively.
Last year each of the bowl games, including the Fiesta Bowl, received a four-year operating license from the NCAA. Two bowl games (Seattle Bowl and Silicon Valley Football Classic) did not receive a license due to poor attendance and funding concerns.
"We look forward to meeting with the NCAA to answer any questions about the Special Committee report, and to discuss the new bylaws, policies and controls that the board of directors has put in place to prevent the activities described in the report from occurring again,” Andy Bagnato, a Fiesta Bowl spokesman, said.
Poppe also suggests that the Insight Bowl, which is operated by the Fiesta Bowl, could also be in danger as a result of the recent findings. The Insight Bowl would be more likely to be a victim of the recent Fiesta Bowl reports.
On March 29, 2011 the Fiesta Bowl fired John Junker, long time president and CEO, for running an "apparent scheme to reimburse employees for political contributions and "an apparent conspiracy" to cover it up. The firing came after an internal investigation revealed Junker violating a number of standards and laws within the state of Arizona while operating as a representative of the Fiesta Bowl. The BCS immediately responded by suggesting that the possibility of the Fiesta Bowl being removed from the BCS equation was a possibility but has backed off only slightly from that suggestion. The BCS will coordinate their own review of the Fiesta Bowl and determine at a later time whether or not the bowl game will remain in the BCS rotation alongside the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl.
In the event that the Fiesta Bowl is stripped of its BCS status the search for a replacement would likely begin immediately or concurrently. The Cotton Bowl appears to be a favorite as a possible replacement but the Chick-fil-A Bowl and Capital One Bowl are considered options to make a bid for the theoretical BCS vacancy.
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