The Leader Mentality
The Leader Mentality
Bowl Game Leadership Lessons
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A bowl game should feel bigger than four quarters, and that’s exactly what we’ve built on the Grand Strand. We sit down with Tony Ferrante to unpack how the Myrtle Beach Bowl moved from an ambitious idea in 2018 to a nationally televised showcase that lifts players, fans, and the local economy—all while keeping the beach-town heart intact.
Tony takes us behind the scenes on the ESPN partnership and conference tie-ins with the Sun Belt, MAC, and Conference USA, explaining why Myrtle Beach stood out: a unique destination, strong civic support, and a perfect venue at Brooks Stadium in Conway. We talk through the 2020 launch during COVID, the careful operations it demanded, and the steady growth since—measured in attendance, broadcast viewership, and hotel nights that fuel small businesses through the holidays. You’ll hear how selections really happen, including last year’s Coastal Carolina storyline and what it means to prepare when you might learn your teams minutes before the reveal.
We go deep on what makes a great bowl experience for student-athletes: extra practice time for coaches, real rewards off the field, and thoughtful touches like team nights at Dave & Buster’s and Topgolf. Tony shares insights from three decades in college athletics at Troy—what travel itineraries work, which details matter most to players, and how consistent processes keep chaos out of game week. We also dive into community and sponsorship strategy: why local partners like Visit Myrtle Beach and the chambers are essential, how brands benefit from aligning with a rising regional event, and simple marketing moves that stand out, like swag people actually keep.
If you care about sports business, leadership, or the magic that happens when a city rallies behind an idea, you’ll find a playbook worth borrowing. The Myrtle Beach Bowl kicks off Friday, December 19 at noon. Join us, subscribe for more behind-the-scenes conversations, and leave a review to tell us who you want to see take the field next.
Welcome And Guest Introduction
SPEAKER_02Welcome to the Leader Mentality Show with Rob Clemens. We got a super fun show today because everybody knows I love sports. If you've ever heard a leader mentality show, you know I'm going to tie sports analogies back to every single business training, every single thing. And a lot of times, if you guys have ever heard me at a uh event and I'm talking, I'll usually say to the fans, I'll say, Does anybody out here like sports? And if people say they don't like sports, I'm in trouble because all my analogies are going to be related. So anyway, today I've got a great guest. Um, if you are a person who is in charge of a team, uh, you've been doing work, you've been promoting yourself, you know the value of having a great team. You know the value of having great promotion, great sponsorship, great partners. And today I want to talk a little bit with a guy that has been putting on a great event here. When I talk about this, you guys all have heard of it in the past. It's called the Myrtle Beach Bowl, and we have none other than Tony Ferranti. That's correct. All right, I well, I got the name right. So we start off good, Tony. Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_00Pleasure.
SPEAKER_02Man, what's good? It's good to have you. I I've been a fan of what you guys are doing with the Myrtle Beach Bowl for years, so I want to dive into that a little bit today. But if you would tell me a little bit about the Myrtle Beach Bowl and how this thing got started and what's the point of all this good stuff.
SPEAKER_00All right, well, um, we had our first game back in 2020. Um the uh the city of Myrtle Beach, uh, ESPN and Coastal Carolina University agreed to partner early on, uh sometime in 2018, kind of went through the process of uh getting approved through the NCAA. And uh once everything got approved, uh, you know, December of 2020 was the target date. Um you know, it was a big year that year for for many reasons. Uh one of them was the COVID year. And uh so the game kind of uh lucky to play the game that year. We did get the game in, but um kind of scaled back a little bit, had limited attendance due to uh COVID restrictions and whatnot. But uh but we've been growing and getting bigger every single year since then. Um and essentially, you know, a few years back ESPN found the need um to try to uh incorporate a few more bowl games into the the postseason picture in college football. Um there were a number of teams who were worthy to go to a bowl game but were being left out because there there weren't enough spots for them. Sure. So uh ESPN partnered with a number of the conferences, uh Sun Belt, Mid-American, Conference USA, and um found some good locations and uh throughout the country, and that's how you know we started over here. The Sun Belt in particular had a need, um the Sun Belt Conference for an extra bowl game and great location at the beach. You can't get much better than Myrtle Beach. I was gonna say somebody sitting in the room going, hmm, Myrtle Beach, uh vacation. Yeah, yeah. So uh, you know, it was a no-brainer. Then we had, you know, with Coastal Carolina being in the Sunbelt, and you know, playing in Conway, it was a great fit. And the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and uh Visit Myrtle Beach uh jumped in and you know have been huge supporters of everything we do along the way.
SPEAKER_02It's it's we've got one of, you know, honestly, I feel like in the Myrtle Beach area, and for those of you who live out of the area and you're here in the show, I'll I'll explain that Conway is where Coastal Carolina is, and that's where the Myrtle Beach Bowl is is primarily hosted. Um, but it is just I'd say west of Myrtle Beach. And then we have uh Myrtle Beach, we have Polly's Island, we have so many great destinations, but we have some of the best chamber of commerce, bar none anywhere, and you mentioned Myrtle Beach. Conway has a great chamber, but Myrtle Beach has been the driving force with the Myrtle Beach ball, yeah? They have, yes, sir. Yeah, very cool. And by the way, you brought us some great swag stuff today. So I I love the ESPN, got these great koozies, and always a fan of that. Uh, you talk about ESPN. We talked about the fact that they they felt there was a need to get some other um games in at that time. Uh walk me through how hard is that process, though.
Why Myrtle Beach Was Chosen
SPEAKER_00I mean, is it where there are you know 50 different areas and Myrtle Beach was one of those few, or you know, I I can't speak to all the specifics, but um you know there there's always a number of cities who have interest in hosting a bowl game. You know, Myrtle Beach was at the top of the list, but um they like to find, you know, a location, a city um that has a draw that that people are gonna want to go to that city for other reasons besides playing a football game. Yeah. Um you know they don't necessarily look for warmer climates, it it helps, but I mean they have a bowl game in Bose, Idaho. Right. So um that they just look for something unique about that location, um, and then civic support, which certainly is what we have here. No question. Um and you know, at any point in time, there's a couple cities out there that would love to have a bowl game, and you know, Myrtle Beach is extremely fortunate in, you know, to have it at this location. And and like I said, ESPN and and and Myrtle Beach, it's been a great partnership. So I I think so.
SPEAKER_02How have you seen grown uh the growth from you know when we talked about this in 2020 to 2025? What is uh what have you seen personally happening there?
SPEAKER_00Uh, you know, just all around, anything from attendance to viewership, uh, you know, on on the broadcast, uh the economics that we uh assist in providing uh the Myrtle Beach economy during that time of the year. And you know, things have you know every year progressively gotten better and better. So um community involvement's been great. Um it's uh it it's been very positive for us.
SPEAKER_02Very cool. Now, last year, uh we talked about this a little off the air, but maybe for the guest, it might be kind of an interesting thing to hear how this comes together. Last year, famously, we had Coastal Carolina in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, and that was a big deal around here. Uh was how did that come together?
Growth, Impact, And Viewership
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, it was uh last year was an interesting scenario with uh regards to uh bowl team selection. Uh going into the last regular season uh week of games, there were three bowl spots open. So um there were enough teams uh to fill all but three bowls. So there were sixteen sixteen teams going into the last week who could become bowl eligible on that weekend um for three spots. Only three teams became bowl eligible. So the exact number of teams who could get into a bowl game became eligible. Everybody, you know, was left at home. Sure. Coastal uh was one of those teams, and so were their their their opponent, UTSA. Both of them became bowl eligible on on the last week of the season uh with six wins, and that kind of factored into it. And um, you know, they were a great team to have in the um in in you know in the game last year, and you know, we were excited about that. You know, we uh it was an interesting situation because they were the home team, but they were the visiting team for the uh for the Bulls. That is interesting.
SPEAKER_02Uh d was there any uh behind the scenes the visiting the the visiting team? Were they like, hey, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, they uh again, they were great with everything and they understood that and they kind of had an idea that that would happen. But the one road I would not go down is uh we let them use the home locker room. Okay, was not going to uh cross that bridge. Well, that's and that's fair, yeah. Well, yeah, they they stayed in their locker room, but they wore the uh white jerseys and were technically the visiting team.
SPEAKER_02I I can appreciate that. Now, here's the thing about this don't tell me for a second that these players don't look at where they're going for their bowl games and they're like Myrtle Beach, heck yeah, because Coastal Carolina a couple years ago got to go to Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, coastal, they've they've been uh they've had some pretty good bowl selections. They've gone to Hawaii, they've gone to uh Orlando a couple times. Yeah. Uh they've played in Birmingham, so yeah, they've had some good choices. I mean, we we do believe that even though they stayed home, it was still a good selection for us.
SPEAKER_02Oh, for sure, for sure. Well, right. And and you know, I always looked at what the guys on the team and some of the people who are supporters of the team, and they're like, we're going to Hawaii this year, so yeah, people have a good time with it. What makes a great bowl game?
SPEAKER_00I think from my standpoint, it's uh it's just providing entertainment for the team, for the student athletes, giving them opportunities to one practice, because that's important to the coaches, get a little bit of practice time in there. But really just it's a reward for them to to come in, get a few more days of practice, you know, hopefully win the game, but at the same time get to enjoy the city, the environment, um, you know, just everything it has to offer. And, you know, I think we do a pretty good job of that. You know, this year, um, each team will have one night at Dave and Busters uh and then another night at Top Golf. Um, they're they're they're football players, so they like to eat. So, you know, as much food as you can put in front of them as possible. I'd hate to see those bills. I just hate to, yeah. It's it's it's interesting. But uh yeah, it's just giving them every opportunity to have a good time. Yeah. You know, they're they've they've had a long year and it's a reward for them, and we want them to enjoy themselves.
Coastal Carolina’s Selection Story
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I love that you're saying that because honestly, on the leader mentality show, we believe that part of a person's leadership and growth is experience. I believe that's a great thing about going to college. You know, people there's a lot of people on both sides like as to whether a person should go to college or not, but it's a part of really who you will grow as a person. You're experiencing things, you're finding out how you fit into the dynamics, and you're doing that with the team. So I love that. Yeah, very cool. Uh tell me for the fans. I I'm so curious when you're at a stage like you're at right now, you don't actually know who's gonna be in the bowl game yet, but you're promoting it now. How how is that look from your perspective? How do you promote something when you're not quite sure who's gonna be there?
SPEAKER_00I mean, that's uh it's really not that hard. Yeah. Um at the end of the day, we have a game to um put on, and we're gonna run that game the same way that we would do any team that comes into it. Where everyone's gonna get treated the same. Yeah. Um, so everything for us is just, you know, standard. Just keep marching forward. You know, every team will bring a unique situation in, um, different personalities and whatnot. But uh, you know, we're ready to go with just about any scenario. Um, you know, we hope going into the day they make the selection on a Sunday, December 7th this year, um, we're gonna have an idea who it's going to be. But uh that doesn't always happen. And you know, one year we found out ten minutes before they made the announcement. Whoa, okay. So um y you know, we try to be as prepared as possible, but at you know, at the last minute they tell us who's coming. We're sending the same information out. We're gonna make uh the same phone call just to a couple different individuals and um, you know, welcome them and invite them to Myrtle Beach and just move forward with it.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. No, that makes sense. Now, Tony, how long have you been doing this for? Uh you as far as like just sporting world?
SPEAKER_00I know you said you I've uh I've been involved in college athletics for just over thirty years now. Okay. Um I've been in Myrtle Beach for uh just over three years. Um but you know, a lot of my background working in the college athletic department with a football team and and just different experiences I had really, you know, put me in a unique situation to be prepared uh for working with the bowl game. So um, you know, I uh I worked a lot on the football operation sides of things. So I had a perspective of the team going to bowl games. I was fortunate enough at Troy University to uh uh be part of a number of different bowl teams there. So I was able to take my experiences and what we enjoyed, what we didn't, and just kind of translate that into what we're doing here. So I you know, I I think I have a pretty good idea of what um they would want to see. Now it you know, those opinions change every day, and I'm I'm at the point now where I'm you know referring to them as kids. Yeah. So um but uh you know, just trying to keep up and you know, what's in, what's out, and what they like, and just you know, have an idea with that.
SPEAKER_02And so it's it's it's amazing how I think you can apply what you're talking about to almost any phase of life. You found out things from years of experience that did work, you found out some things that really didn't work, and you kind of improve upon it year by year. So I can appreciate that. Let me ask you one question about the uh the area itself. Myrtle beach. Uh you're relatively new to the area. Tell me something great about Myrtle Beach and how it's different from other places you've been.
What Makes A Great Bowl Experience
SPEAKER_00I yeah, you know, I to me it's so for me it you know, it was a bit of a change from where I came from. You know, Troy University, I was there for 25 years, just about 25 years, and it's a small town, small college campus, small town uh in South Alabama. So, you know, we had a Walmart and a couple fast food restaurants. Um but it started growing by the time I left, we had a Hobby Lobby and a TJ Maxx. Okay. Two stoplights instead of one. There you go. Um so going from having one Walmart to four Walmarts, you know, just things like that. You know, just having, you know, being able to get out and about and go explore. And you know, I spent my first year every Saturday just going out in different parts of the city, down south, up north, just just learning the area. And um, I tell you the one thing I that I've had to adjust to, but I'm pretty good with it now, is the traffic. Okay, okay. Um, so I'm finally to the point where I don't need my GPS wherever I'm going.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, yes. Well, and you know, like anywhere else, you know, hey, don't drive on 501 between, you know, uh, you know, four o'clock and five thirty or whatever, and and you know, you just kind of learn these things.
SPEAKER_00But there's there's so much to do here. Yeah. Um there there's always something going on. Every weekend there's a festival or you know, uh just a concert, you name it. Yeah. It's there's a lot, a lot to do here, and I enjoy it, and it's it's it's been a it's been really nice.
SPEAKER_02I'll tell you one thing. And and so I grew up in the Air Force, and uh my father was an Air Force uh person, so we lived all over the place, and uh one of them was Blyville, Arkansas. Kind of reminds me of that. We had one Walmart. I've been there. You you've been to Blyville, Arkansas? We've uh we uh we've stayed there for for football games, yeah. That's uh amazing. Like I've never met anybody who's actually been to Blyville, Arkansas, other than me. Three times. Oh, well, and and what were your impressions? Beautiful place. Uh just um no problem.
SPEAKER_00No, it was a little secluded.
SPEAKER_02Shout out to Blyville. I'm not saying anything, but we have one Walmart and maybe one stoplight, and and Sonic was a big deal out there if you're gonna go have some uh food. Yeah. But uh but my point being that when I moved here permanently, I always thought every time you go on vacation for the rest of your life, it's a different thing because when you go on vacation somewhere and you're like, oh, I'm going back to Myrtle Beach.
SPEAKER_00Uh, so it's it's a beautiful feeling. Yeah, I mean that's the the the first thing people always say to me when I tell them where I'm living. Well, that's a tough life. Oh, yeah, this is hard.
SPEAKER_01Living at the beach, that's tough.
SPEAKER_02It would take a little bit of traffic. Well, that's cool. I I love hearing about your background because I I think it means a lot for people to know that you're invested in this. This isn't just uh another job for you, but you've been eating and sleeping and breathing this for many years, and and you chose this because you believe in it, and I I I love that aspect. Um big is the community support in this? I mean, tell me things that you need when you're putting on a bowl game like this uh as far as support from the community.
Promoting The Game Before Teams Are Set
SPEAKER_00Well, there's there's nothing about the game that would happen without the community support. Everything that we do is centered around the community. Um whether it's uh, you know, some of our smaller sponsors or bigger sponsors such as Visit Myrtle Beach, yeah. Um again, they're involved in everything that we do. Um we're very fortunate as a whole to have a great group of sponsors that that work with us. Um and again, uh having Visit Myrtle Beach in Coastal Carolina, City of Conway, the city of Myrtle Beach, uh the the hotels, uh everything, it it really makes things easy for us. And uh um it's you know, everyone realizes how important this game is to the community. So everyone wants to be involved with it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you w you want to be involved because you want it to succeed, but you also want to maybe help your company out. So you still need sponsors um of all very uh various levels. Sure. Yeah. How do how do sponsors get involved with this?
SPEAKER_00You know, uh uh a lot of them it's uh they come find us. Okay. You know, but we do actively go out and and and talk to different uh groups and companies, restaurants, stores, you name it, and uh gauge their interest and basically just convince them that this is a good avenue for them to uh get their name out there, a good good product of support, and that we could uh be mutually beneficial.
SPEAKER_02I guess each other. It makes a lot of sense to me. You know, one of the things I think of, so I also own a company called Carolina Bay's Homes, and we're actually a sponsor of Coastal Athletics. So we sponsor the football, baseball, and basketball. People asked me why I did that at one point, and I said the reason is because just for your company to be associated with such a big brand, it says something about your company. I always felt like that. And and then there's a story. I'm a Coastal Carolina grad. I wanted to give back to my school in my way. You know, I wanted to have a place that we could all be proud of that we're still affiliated. And I think that's sort of like what's happening with the Myrtle Beach Bowl. I think that if you're here and you're getting involved with this, it says something about your company at the end of the day. So that's very powerful. And we would love to have you part of our team. Yeah. Speaking of, right? Well, I saw this. Uh this is for lack of a better term, this is your business card, sort of. And I thought this was the coolest thing ever. Who came up with this idea? This is just brilliant.
SPEAKER_00Well, I really can't say it was me. It's just uh using the chip has become somewhat popular. I know here in Myrtle Beach with golf being so popular. Yeah. People use it for a ball marker and whatnot. So uh just had the thought of putting the uh the business information on the back of it.
SPEAKER_02So I always said when it comes to marketing, and and anybody who listens to the show, you know I've got little bits and pieces. Be memorable. You know, if you hand out a regular business card, what do most people do? They just pop it in the back pocket, they get home at night, it's all crumpled up, they throw it in the trash can. You hand them something like this, they go, hmm, huh, look at that. And uh I love that. So very, very cool stuff. Um do you have any uh particular things that you would say about your experience with the Chamber of Commerce? I know you said they've been a great partner uh year after year. Uh tell me about the local uh you know uh Myrtle Beach.
Tony’s Background And Operations Insight
SPEAKER_00Uh you know, as far as the Myrtle Beach Chamber and visit Myrtle Beach in particular, I I mean I can't stop saying good things about them. Um they're they're a great sounding board um with what we do, um, great suggestions. Um anytime I I need help with something or getting you know uh getting contact information, they jump right in. And um like I said, from my standpoint and in my experience here, it's been seamless.
SPEAKER_02So um it's it's such a such a great group, and I feel like they're always pushing the bar and trying to bring more good stuff to Myrtle Beach. So let me uh we're gonna wrap up with a few questions, a little rapid fire. You ready for this? All right, okay. Greatest football player of all time. Well, I I don't want to put you on the spot too much, but uh you can give me one of the greatest of all time.
SPEAKER_00Well, college for me personally, it would be uh a gentleman that played at Troy, DeMarcus Ware. Okay. Oof DeMarcus Ware. He was a man on that football field. And then beyond that, I'm just gonna try to stay neutral. Yeah. I grew up a Cleveland Browns fan, and you know, they had a they had a long list of great players. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, going back to Bernie Kozar and all those. Yeah, Bernie. I I do want to ask you a question about DeMarcus Ware. This is a guy who was, I mean, uh yeah, as a Washington fan, I I yeah, I shuddered to see that him on the other side of the football every year getting at the quarterback. What was the growth of him from Troy to the NFL?
SPEAKER_00Well, I can tell you the growth of him from high school to Troy and then to the NFL. When he arrived at Troy, it was Troy State at the time, but uh I believe he had only played two years of uh high school football. Um he he was a soccer player. Oh, okay. They convinced him to come out with football, and then um, you know, he he made it to Troy, was an all-American, and then uh now is in the NFL Hall of Fame. But uh the one thing about DeMarcus, um, he is as genuinely good individual as you're ever gonna find. Wow. Um one of the greatest players of all times, but as far as uh as an individual, he is um first class, doesn't get any better than him. Love that.
SPEAKER_02You know, I and and I'll tell you what I think of, and I I've never met him, obviously. I just think somebody at some place in his life said, You should try this thing. Yep. And to go back to what we were talking about a little bit ago, about what these football players getting to experience things, sometimes to have that leader in your life that said, Hey, you know, I think you might be good at this. And if and if that person didn't give you that little nudge, we wouldn't have seen one of the best football players of all time. So as you guys are thinking about going to the Myrtle Beach Bowl and we're talking about this promotion, remember it not just to have a great time on the football field, watching a game, not just to see the beautiful stadium, which is Brooks. I mean, Brooks is one of the most beautiful stadiums in college. I will put it up pound for pound versus anybody. But also remember, these are kids out there that have been working their whole lives to this point to get out and show what they can do. So come out and support them. I mean, it's it's a huge thing.
SPEAKER_00It's you know, it's it's been a great day. Yeah, uh last year was a beautiful day, it was a little cold outside. Yeah, I mean, but uh, you know, it's it's a good time. Um this year we played December 19th at 12 noon, which is a Friday. Um good game day selection for us. So no, we're really excited about it. Very cool.
SPEAKER_02Well, Tony, as we wrap up the show, tell uh us how sponsors can get involved first, because I'm I'm definitely interested in hearing what what that process is.
SPEAKER_00Just uh just reach out, uh visit our website, uh Myrtle Beachbowl Game.com. Okay. Um all the contact information is on there. We have sponsor information on the website as well, and um any anyone with the game is more than happy to jump in and do what we can to help you make that decision. Sounds good. And to somebody who's thinking about going to the game, final word for them.
Life In Myrtle Beach And Local Flavor
SPEAKER_02Bring it on. It's gonna be a great day. I love it. I love it. Well, hey, Tony, been great having you on the show. Looking forward to being at the game, and we look forward to uh promoting this, seeing it be a great success that it is. And for those of you listening, I challenge you to come on out. If you're a Myrtle Beach person and it is the 19th and you're you're not at that ball game, I'm thinking, what the heck else are you doing, guys? So get on out. Let's let's have a good time with it. Tony, I think this is a brilliant thing. I'm so glad and proud that we have this in the Myrtle Beach area. I think it's just a part of our growth. And for you out there, uh, you know, come on out and see us. And for all of you fans, thank you for liking and watching us on social media. And we'll look forward to seeing you next time on the Leader Mentality Show with Rob Clemens.
