JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — South Carolina is preparing to take on Notre Dame in Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl. This year marks the 78th year that fans are coming to the River City for the bowl game.
“It means a lot,” Gator Bowl CEO Greg McGarity shared. “It means a lot to the schools to be able to play in a bowl that has had the Gator Bowl name associated with it every year.”
The Gator Bowl has been held in Jacksonville every year since 1946.
“Just for the city and the community it has become a staple event,” McGarity explained.
Now it’s an attraction that brings thousands of football fans like Mustan Kapasi to the Sunshine State each year. Kapasi is coming from Spartanburg in an RV and plans to park near the stadium.
“I have heard from people that I haven’t heard from in years that are going to this game,” Kapasi said.
But it wasn’t always this way. The Gator Bowl started as a way to liven up downtown Jacksonville after the holidays as soldiers returned home after World War II. The Lions Club headed up the campaign to fundraise.
“Both the Lions Club mean a lot to me and of course the Gamecocks mean a lot to me,” Kapasi told me.
As a Lions Club member himself, Kapasi says the history of the game is special.
“I couldn’t even tell you how much they mean to me,” he shared.
Kapasi isn’t the only who feels that way, according to McGarity.
“This game means so much too because it kind of fills a void between the NFL games on Sundays usually,” McGarity detailed. “South Carolina hadn’t been here since ’87 and Notre Dame since 2003 so two teams that hadn’t been here for a while and fan bases likewise.”