City Council Approves Plan To Host College All-Star Game For Decade

EL PASO, TX. – City Council decided to lock up the rights to a college all-star game for the next decade.

It’s called Texas Versus the Nation and it debuted here last year in the Sun Bowl. Tuesday, Council members voted 6-to-0 to extend the contract with the game for one year, with9 one-year options, securing the event for the Sun City through 2017.

In February 2007, the game pitted all-stars from Texas against those from the rest of the country. It drew in nearly 22,000 fans to the Sun Bowlmaking it the highest-attended collegiate all-star game in the country.

Because of that, Mayor John Cook and other council members were quick to jump on the opportunity for a long-term deal with Overtime Sports – the company that organizes the annual contest. The city and the county have agreed to give Overtime Sports $200,000 dollars per year to host the game in the Sun Bowl.

Overtime Sports Chairman Kenny Hansmire says the game attracted more than100NFL scouts last year. “We see this as something we as an association really want to get behind and really push because we believe it has tremendous potential for the city and tremendous potential for the hotel industry,” said Michael Shoffit of the El Paso Hotel-Motel Association.

Some see this game, with so many scouts interested, as the way to attract anNFL preseason game to El Paso.