Spotlight On: Greg McGarity, President & CEO, Gator Bowl Sports

Spotlight On: Greg McGarity, President & CEO, Gator Bowl Sports

2022-12-19T16:16:56-05:00December 9th, 2022|Economy, Entertainment, Arts & Media, Jacksonville, Spotlight On|

2 min read December 2022 President and CEO of Gator Bowl Sports Greg McGarity discussed all things community involvement in an interview with Invest:. Charitable efforts are at the forefront of operations and maintaining NCAA regulations amid an interesting chapter of college football is a top priority. “What we’ve done is focus on our charitable efforts, which has drawn a lot of interest from our corporate membership here in Jacksonville,” he said. 

What has kept you and your team busy in the past year? 

We have had a strong focus on our charities arm. Many people in our community only know us as a Bowl Game one day each year and we found out pretty quickly that even some of our committee members had no idea of how invested we are in our community. We’ve focused on our charitable efforts, which has drawn a lot of interest from our corporate membership here in Jacksonville. We’ve also been focused on enrollment in green jacket membership to generate a generation of 40 and under to ensure we’re producing leaders of the future for the Gator Bowl. There’s not a lot we can do with the actual football game besides the date and time in November and December once we have been afforded some clarity on who’s going to play in the actual game. 

This year’s economic impact was slightly different because Texas A&M decided not to play in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl and we had to scramble to replace them with Rutgers University. We brought in around 20,000 fans as opposed to 2019’s 50,000 fans for the Indiana versus Tennessee game but imagine if he had chosen not to play the game at all, which was a very strong possibility. We were fortunate to even have a game last year; the hoteliers and restaurants were happy because they knew that the loss of that revenue stream would have hurt their bottom line. And TV ratings on ESPN added 3.5 million viewers, which was a very strong rating.

What is the Gator Bowl’s cultural significance to the community? 

It’s the 78th year for us. For 78 years, it has been the thing to do. The Bowl structure has changed significantly from a time where the Bowls could simply pick who they wanted to play in a game. Now, we are pretty much assigned who will play in our game. It’s probably not as prominent as it has been in the past; there were a lot of ancillary events – beauty pageants, parades, basketball games – that have been greatly pared down. It still allows us to focus with our small staff on certain things and do them well as opposed to doing too many things at a lower quality. The city has a very strong presence in the sports and entertainment sector; ASM operates the stadium here, the Jaguars are heavily involved in the concert area and there are a lot of players in town that certainly do great things in so many ways. We all have our areas of focus and our system is very well coordinated in a way that we don’t duplicate services. 

It’s all about following through on the initiatives we’ve started, and many of those only started in this past year. There’s room for growth and we know what the city and Jaguars ownership are planning in this sports precinct over the next five to 10 years, with the Jaguars’ practice facility on the waterfront, construction of the Four Seasons and office space on the river, for example. It will be dynamic. I’ve heard a lot of individuals predict that this area of town will be unrecognizable in a few years. There are a lot of great things on the horizon and we’re proud to be a part of that. 

What trends exist for the modern fan experience and partnerships? 

You need a multidimensional approach for everyone, making space for anyone who wants to come and enjoy the game. Family zones, party zones, high-end suite-style zones are all important to have and do well. Every fan comes for different reasons and to have different experiences. 

We have our end zone areas, which we are trying to activate into environments mirroring The PLAYERS championship, with large entertainment areas that encourage fans to wander around. It’s usually a beautiful time of year in Jacksonville and our relationships are those that attempt to facilitate certain corporate sponsors affiliated with our game. We give them the space to host pre-game, in-game and post-game parties, allowing them to activate on game day to ensure their presence is known. You may be educating an entirely different population depending on which state is represented.

How are you working to include the younger generation in the event?

We’re really trying to target those in high school through a ticket program for local youth in North Florida and South Georgia to attract that demographic. We’re also working with middle-school children through Send a Child to the Game efforts so corporate sponsors and others can provide free tickets to the game for busloads of children. They’re treated to a nice lunch and experience a game, some for the first time ever. We’re trying to reach out to those groups there, all the way from young Pop Warner players to college students attending one of those institutions. It fills up a slot between Christmas and New Year’s Day where college football fits perfectly. 

What is your outlook for the Gator Bowl going forward?

We will grow. We feel that if we continue to grow at this corporate and community level, we need to facilitate those new members. We will be very careful that we don’t add numbers just to add numbers but that we are able to add and facilitate to ensure that we deliver a first-class experience. 

College football is in a state of flux at this time and by the time the college football playoff system decides on whether or not it will change things up, it will affect all Bowls in some manner. We will be ready to pivot but it’s difficult to pivot without knowing what the future will hold. Our ear is close to the ground and we’re in constant communication with our conference partners and other college football stakeholders as well as the Bowl season to ensure we’re as knowledgeable as we can be in a very uncertain world. 

We’re very streamlined in what we do; we don’t want to saturate things to where experiences are no longer high-level. Our charity efforts, growth in community and corporate membership and being able to facilitate two teams’ weeklong visit to North Florida are our priorities. Everything has a purpose for us. 

While we do not have any sports betting associated with corporations involved in what we do that could very well enter the picture. When it comes to sports betting in Florida, it’s not an “if,” it’s pretty much a “when.” 

For more information, visit:

https://www.taxslayergatorbowl.com/

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