The first step is finished.
Now all the other steps will hopefully fall into place during the next 12 months.
Shorter College and the city of Rome will be busily preparing to host the NAIA national championship football game in December after the official announcement Thursday that Rome won the bid.
After a year-long process where Shorter applied to be the host school for the 2008 and 2009 title games, the college will now plunge headfirst into the planning efforts for this year’s game, which is scheduled to be played Dec. 20 at Barron Stadium.
There is a laundry list of things to be done, and Shorter Athletic Director Bill Peterson said the process has already started.
“Our most immediate objective is to put a host committee together, the group that will handle the logistics of the game,” Peterson said. “They will oversee everything from sponsorships to concessions to parking to the halftime show.
“We want to then appoint a chairperson to be the public face of the committee, and we’d like to have all that in place by Feb. 1.”
In addition to the work of the committee, Peterson said a dedicated group of citizens will be key to making the game a success.
“It’s critical for us to get a strong volunteer group together,” Peterson said. “I’d say we need somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 to 150 volunteers to help everything run smoothly. I’ve already heard from a lot of folks who worked with the Tour de Georgia, and since it’s not coming to Rome this year, they indicated they’d love to help with this.”
One of the first tasks of the host committee will be to start securing business sponsorships for the event.
“The timeline of things like printing tickets and programs and things like that doesn’t get really busy until the summer months,” Peterson said.
“But getting corporate sponsors and ticket sales are our big focus right now,” he said.
Business sponsors are critical to offset the initial costs of the game. The hosts (Shorter and Rome and Floyd County) are responsible within 60 days after the game to pay $25,000 to the NAIA and $25,000 to cover television broadcast fees.
Shorter expects to cover half of the $50,000 total, while Rome and Floyd County will split the other half. However, that money should be made up from all the revenues the event brings in, including corporate sponsorships.
“All the revenues that come in from the game will be used to pay the fees and championship obligations,” Peterson said. “Anything left for profit is split between the host committee and the NAIA.
“When you look at it, there are a lot of things to cover,” Peterson added about the hosts’ responsibilities, including travel and lodging costs, the championship banquet and event staffing. “But a lot of sponsors have already stepped up and are willing to help with that.
“We really did look at it from a lot of angles and did a thorough analytical review, and we feel good about the possibilities.”
One logistical question still to be answered is the proposed West Third Street redevelopment and how that might possibly affect people crossing the soon-to-be completed pedestrian bridge from downtown Rome to Barron Stadium.
“It’s the goal that once that bridge is finished in the spring, we’ll be able to maintain pedestrian access to West Third Street, even during construction,” said City Manager John Bennett.
“In the plans for that area, the access is scheduled to be along the edge of the properties anyway, not through any construction area.”
Bennett also said the city will look at parking options to handle the expected crowd of more than 5,000 people.
“The good thing about this is the game is on a Saturday and people will have access to park at offices and businesses around the stadium,” he said. “We hope to have the parking deck downtown (near The Forum) open by then, and we can also use shuttle buses to nearby lots if necessary.”
Like Peterson, Bennett thinks one of the strong points of Shorter’s bid to host the championship is the backing of the people and businesses in Greater Rome.
“I’d like to think we’ll have pretty good local community support for this,” Bennett said. “We thought the money the city put down for something this big that could impact Rome in such a positive way was definitely worth considering.”
Click here to see our video coverage.
Click here to view the championship host agreement.
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