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Montgomery's Cramton Bowl hosts a college football all-star game in January.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The city of Montgomery has been in intensive talks to land a bowl game owned by ESPN Regional Television pairing the Sun Belt against the Mid-American Conference, according to four bowl industry sources with knowledge of the information.

Montgomery's game would start in 2014 and be played at the Cramton Bowl, not Alabama State's stadium as originally intended by a different prospective owner. The Legends Bowl Group, which first publicly raised interest in staging a bowl in Montgomery, has moved on and now is trying to land a game in Charleston, S.C., according to The Charleston Post & Courier.

In recent years, Montgomery spent approximately $10 million to renovate the Cramton Bowl, which stages the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic in January. The Cramton Bowl, which was built in 1922, has a listed capacity of 25,000.

The bowl would become the third in Alabama, joining games in Birmingham and Mobile. Birmingham's bowl is also owned by ESPN and will continue to have the SEC and American Athletic Conference as primary partners.

Ken Blankenship, executive director the Central Alabama Sports Commission in Montgomery, said the city does not have a bowl game "at this moment."

"We're still trying," Blankenship said. "We've been trying for the last three years. I really don't know where things stand."

If there is a bowl in Montgomery, "I would hope it would be at Cramton Bowl," Blankenship said. "Obviously, I work for the city and we've done a lot of renovations."

Initially, the Legends Bowl Group wanted to play at Alabama State. The group cited interest in playing in a newer stadium, the quality of the facility's luxury boxes, and the novelty of staging college football's first bowl game at a historically black college.

"We're still available to talk to anyone if they're willing to pursue a bowl game at Alabama State," Alabama State Athletics Director Melvin Hines said. "We have a top-notch venue."

The efforts for a bowl in Montgomery represent the new world of college football's postseason. Smaller conferences -- armed with more money thanks to the College Football Playoff contract -- are seeking more bowl tie-ins.

As NBC and Fox eye bowl games, ESPN is trying to maintain its firm grip on the postseason. Last season, ESPN owned seven bowl games -- New Mexico, Las Vegas, Beef 'O' Brady's, Hawaii, Texas, Armed Forces, and BBVA Compass -- and televised 33 of the 35 bowl games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ABC.