“Heads in Beds” Will Determine Sun Bowl’s Success

The Sun Bowl’s success comes down to “heads in beds.” Bowl game organizers tell ABC-7 El Paso wins if there are a lot of out of town visitors, regardless of who is victorious.

They expect Arizona State’s fan base to come to the Sun City, but say Duke has the potential to increase the game’s economic impact.

“We know Arizona State will bring a lot of people, it’s so easy to get here,” said John Folmer, the chairman of the Sun Bowl Selection Committee. “They may not stay as long as Duke folks, but they’ll be here and I think they’ll be here in mass numbers.”

Duke fans have much more ground to cover if they plan to travel to El Paso. They may also not be as familiar with the safety of the border region as Arizonans.

Still, Folmer thinks the “deep pockets” of Blue Devil alums could help boost the game’s economic impact. “Dukees are like Stanford people, usually a little more educated, got better jobs, they got money and they’ll come,” said Folmer, “We have to convince them El Paso is a safe community.”

The game is still nearly three weeks away. The big question is: how many hotel reservations are being made?

“I’m hopeful there’ll be a lot of them,” said Rick LaFluer, the president of the El Paso Motel-Hotel Association, “I wish it were Duke basketball, but I think it’s going to be marvelous.”

LaFluer tells ABC-7 it should be easy for ASU fans to come to El Paso. As for Duke alum, “If you can afford to go to Duke, you can afford to travel to the Sun Bowl,” he said.

Folmer is predicting as many as 10,000 visitors for the game. He said he expects Arizona State fans to pick up the slack for Duke, if Blue Devil alum decide not to come to El Paso.

An assistant athletic director at ASU told ABC-7 more than 25,000 Sun Devil fans traveled to Dallas last year to see a bowl matchup with Notre Dame.