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Friday, May 16, 2003
Copyright ? Las Vegas Review-Journal

College all-star bowl game to be played in Las Vegas

By STEVE CARP
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Two years after it started, the Paradise Bowl is getting a new name and a new home.

The college all-star football game is moving from St. George, Utah, to Las Vegas. The Las Vegas All-American Classic will be played Jan. 24, 2004, at Sam Boyd Stadium and will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

"When the Blue-Gray Game was having problems in Alabama, we had an opportunity to fill the void," said Darry Alton, the game's executive director. "We're taking a regional game and making it a national game."

Alton said after two years at Dixie College, which allowed lesser-known players from the Mountain West, Western Athletic and Big Sky conferences to showcase their talents, the time was right to upgrade the game's locale and talent.

"We were getting 100 NFL scouts to St. George," Alton said. "They would fly into Vegas, then drive 2 1/2 hours. Now, they won't have to drive, and I'll bet we'll get even more NFL people out to watch."

Alton said Las Vegas also should be a popular destination for the 110 players expected to participate.

"I think kids will be very excited about coming to Vegas to play," he said. "It'll be exciting for the fans, too. Let's face it, you don't see a lot of Miami, Notre Dame and Michigan helmets at UNLV."

Las Vegas Events, which helped negotiate the move, which is for one year with a promotional investment of between $50,000 and $75,000, sees potential for the event.

"We like the fact of having the prestige of a college all-star football game in Las Vegas," LVE president Pat Christenson said. "We feel the components are there to build a big event."

Alton said he didn't know what ticket prices would be but that they probably would go on sale in the fall.

Source: http://reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/May-16-Fri-2003/sports/21334006.html?imw=Y

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