As Roy Lang said in his Shreveport Times article this weekend and we said here about three weeks ago, the Independence Bowl is in trouble.

The Independence Bowl needs a new sponsor once again, the finances are in shambles, and the actual turnstile attendance at the game has been declining for years.

The bowl game is in need of new leadership with fresh ideas on how to turn the Independence Bowl from just a game into an event and how to get the local community to buy in again, become a lot more involved, and re-engage the Louisiana Tech fan base that has mostly stopped supporting the bowl after being snubbed several times throughout the years.

Instead of just rehashing the reasons why the Independence Bowl is struggling, we want to offer ideas and steps the bowl’s organizers can take in order to improve itself. Some of these steps are simple to do while others involve a lot of work and planning to get right, but the bowl game can become a lot more than what it is now if at least most of these ideas are implemented.

Here are some of the ideas we have the bowl game can implement either immediately, in the short-term, or in the long-term:

Immediate Steps:

Step #1: Involve Barksdale Air Force Base

The Independence Bowl should involve Barksdale AFB into its event schedule before the game by hosting either a pep rally or team luncheon on the base or moving the FCA Breakfast to BAFB. The visiting teams should also get a tour of the base. Barksdale fits into the Independence theme of the bowl and is an integral part of the community but is inexplicably missing from Independence Bowl event schedule other than a flyover. A good display to get the local community involved would be to have an airplane on display at the Louisiana Boardwalk for locals and fans to sit in the cockpit and for photo opportunities similar to what the Armed Forces Bowl did by putting an F-35 in Sundance Square during bowl week. Also, BAFB employees should receive free tickets and should be honored during a timeout. These things involving BAFB should be done in addition to the flyover.

Step #2: Turn the Independence Bowl Halftime into a show

Halftime should be transformed into a show, especially when the teams only bring their pep bands like Vanderbilt and NC State. The bowl game can host a performance by artists like Lee Greenwood for a patriotic show, the Nitro Circus, the Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band, local entertaining high school marching bands, and local dance groups.

The recipient of the “Spirit of Independence Award” can be formally honored at a separate ceremony before the game and recognized on the field during the game during the break between the first and second quarters instead of during halftime.

Step #3: Provide free or reduced-price tickets to local groups

Bowl games often provide tickets at discounted rates (50% and more) to members of the military, first responders, and church groups. The Independence Bowl offers $5 discounts per end zone ticket for group purchases and a $5 discount for military personnel for bench seats only.

The Independence Bowl should go much further with discounts to military personnel and groups. The bowl game should offer discounted group ticket packages in the end zones ($10-$15 per ticket compared to normal $30 ticket for an end zone seat) to church groups and other group purchases. The game should also offer free tickets to Barksdale AFB employees (end zone seats) and 50% discounts to military personnel (with valid military ID).

Yes, the seats would be cheaper than they are currently listed. However, the actual attendance at the Independence Bowl the past several years was lacking, and the game needs to get the community involved in order to put butts in the seats each year.

Step #4: Improve the new Independence Bowl Parade

While the Independence Bowl shouldn’t be renamed the Mardi Gras Bowl as an online article mentioned a couple week ago, the game should team up with the local Mardi Gras krewes and host a bigger and better Independence Bowl Parade before the game. All the Mardi Gras krewes would need to be involved in the parade effort, since they have the blueprints there to run a successful parade. An Independence Bowl Ball could also be a fun way to kick off bowl week or create excitement soon after the teams are announced. The Independence Bowl has to go all-in on this if they organize a parade like this. If organized properly with the various krewes, this parade can be a nice way to transform the Independence Bowl from just a game into an event and involve the local community in the bowl activities. It’s important for local marching bands to be incorporated into this event.

Step #5: Utilize iconic sites like The Strand and the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium for bowl week events

The Independence Bowl should utilize historical venues in the local area like The Strand and the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium for smaller concerts leading up to the game. The bowl organizers could attract Vegas-style shows like The Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil, off-Broadway shows, and artists Hank Williams Jr. and others to host shows in these locations before the game is held. Another possibility is to ensure a post-game concert at one of the casinos with a group like The Molly Ringwalds or Better Than Ezra. The New Orleans Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl have done a good proving musical entertainment for their bowl guests.

Step #6: Launch the Independence Bowl marathon or run

It’s amazing that a metropolitan area the size of Shreveport-Bossier City does not have a marathon race. The Independence Bowl organizers should team up with Sportspectrum to fill the void. This event can include a marathon, half-marathon, 10K race, and 5K race along the streets of downtown Shreveport and Bossier City. Runners can see the sights of downtown Shreveport, run across the Texas Street bridge, and go through some of the historic neighborhoods. Also, the money made from the races can be donated to local charities.

Step #7: Team up with local charities

Bowl games can equal big money and ways for host cities to make money from tourists. However, these games can also be used to raise money for local charitable organizations. Games like the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Cure Bowl, Heart of Dallas Bowl, and the Armed Forces Bowl distribute part of their proceeds each year to local charities. The Independence Bowl should follow suit and team up with local charities like Holy Angels, The Hub Ministry, and others each year and award either a lump sum or a cut of the ticket proceeds to these groups.

Intermediate Steps:

Step #1: Explore the idea of trading teams with other bowl games

This step would involve some creativity and horse trading between the Independence Bowl and other bowl games.

There is no local interest in the ACC. The closest ACC team to Shreveport is Georgia Tech in Atlanta – about 600 miles away. So instead of the Independence Bowl being stuck with an ACC team and an ACC team going to a bowl game far away from its conference footprint, why not trade that ACC team to another East Coast bowl game?

The Independence Bowl could contact the Boca Raton Bowl and the Birmingham Bowl and attempt to arrange a trade. The I-Bowl would trade the ACC team to one of those games in exchange for a team from the American Athletic Conference. While there are no close teams from the ACC, there are five AAC teams within a five hour drive from Shreveport – Memphis, Houston, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa. A trade to get a regional AAC or Conference USA team could help the Independence Bowl get a regional team which would travel decently to Shreveport.

Step #2: When you get a new title sponsor, change the bowl name…if the price is right.

As part of attracting a new title sponsor, the Independence Bowl organizers cannot be married to the idea that they have to be the “Independence Bowl.” Bowl names don’t mean as much now as they did in the past, and the I-Bowl committee is extremely overestimating the value of their name. Everything is negotiable, and the bowl game needs a large stream of money now to ensure the bowl game’s survival in the years to come. If a new sponsor comes in and is willing to give the bowl game a lot of money for changing the bowl’s name, the Independence Bowl should change its name for the title sponsor.

Long-Term Ideas (some of these may be pipe dreams):

Step #1: Sign contracts with other conferences

The Independence Bowl is locked into contracts with the SEC and the ACC through 2019, and it’s very unlikely the bowl can get out of those contracts. When the contracts end, the Independence Bowl should sign new contracts with Group of 5 Conferences with Shreveport in its footprint like Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference.

Even if the I-Bowl reduces its payout in 2019 with the new conferences to around $750,000-$800,000 per team, the I-Bowl payout would still be among the top 2-3 payouts for the American Athletic Conference and Conference USA. Getting more regional teams from these conferences like Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Houston, Memphis, Southern Miss, SMU, Tulsa, Rice, Tulane, UAB, and UTSA would sell more tickets than a 6-6 ACC team and an eastern SEC team.

A matchup between an top 3 AAC/C-USA team and a regional 6-6 SEC team like Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas, and Mississippi State could be a good draw for the Independence Bowl going forward.

Step #2: Get a new television partner

Again, the Independence Bowl is locked into a contract until 2019 – this time with ESPN as their TV partner.

The date and time allotted to the Independence Bowl this year was not optimal. The bowl was the only bowl game on December 26th to air on ESPN2 instead of ESPN. The bowl game can definitely use a better time and date, but it’s mostly (if not entirely) out of their control until the current contract expires.

If the Independence Bowl isn’t going to be owned and operated by ESPN like some other bowl games, then the Independence Bowl should take a chance and sign with another network to ensure a better date and time slot.

The most likely home outside of ESPN would be the Fox Sports umbrella. Other than the NFL and the UFC, Fox Sports doesn’t have much in terms of live sports programming after the end of the college football conference championships in early December. The Independence Bowl could get a decent time slot on Fox Sports 1 or perhaps the Fox Network itself instead of getting scraps from ESPN. The bowl game can use its connections (like Tim Brando) to open up a conversation with Fox Sports and discuss a move to that group. CBS or NBC could also be good options.

Step #3: Launch a Labor Day Kickoff Classic

Bowl games have started getting more involved in “kickoff classics” around Labor Day the last few years. The Advocare Texas Bowl has one in Houston. The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl has one in Atlanta. The Citrus Bowl has one in Orlando coming up. This would involve a lot of work and probably money, but if I were in charge, I would have a Labor Day Kickoff Classic in Shreveport.

The Labor Day Kickoff Classic tied in with the Independence Bowl would feature a big-name concert a day before or after the game. The game would annually feature Louisiana Tech (a good regional team that Shreveport cares about) and a Power 5 opponent.

Other than new leadership, the Independence Bowl needs to accomplish two things very quickly: They need to turn the bowl into a big event, and they need to become much more involved in the community.

By reaching out to local charities, teaming with Barksdale AFB, working with the local Mardi Gras krewes, marketing ticket sales to local church groups and military personnel, and creating new events for Shreveport like a marathon and concerts at historic venues like The Strand and Municipal Auditorium, the Independence Bowl can become an event which can attract both the local population and out-of-state tourists.

The only hope is that the Independence Bowl can utilize some of the ideas mentioned here and be able to turn around the fortunes of the bowl game before the game is shut down for good.