Texas Bowl director David Fletcher excited for a 'fantastic' matchup

Key notes from David Fletcher interview

• The Texans won, and the playoffs are in play for us. Combined with the Texas Bowl, it's an exciting time for us. The Aggies and Oklahoma State are on that Friday night and then the Texans play on Sunday. It'll be exciting.
   
• Any time you get to welcome a great institution like Texas A&M, you go for it. We knew for a long time they'd be playing an orange team from the Big 12, right? The matchup is intriguing; long-time rivals that haven't played in a while, two exciting offenses. It should be a great game.
   
• For whatever it's worth, a lot of the media outlets are calling this a top-5 or a top-10 bowl matchup. For whatever reason, it should be exciting. Big 12-SEC is always exciting. Last year, we had Baylor and Vanderbilt for a shootout. It was arguably the best game of the entire bowl season/postseason. This game could be very similar.
   
• We knew the timeslot would be an excellent fit for us. The primetime slot does great things for us and our market as far as visibility. It's nice that it's right before the playoff semifinal. It will be the kickoff to a great weekend in Houston. The tailgating will be fun. We have a fan fest with Casey Donahew Band headlining. You don't want to be sitting in traffic, so show up around 3:00 and hang out. Take in the show before the show.
   
• One of the great luxuries that we have at the Texans is that we have one of the best crews in the NFL at in-game production. We carry over that same stuff from our Texans games to our college games. Our friends do a great job, and it's always a little bit louder in NRG Stadium during these college games. These two fanbases will be into this one, that's for sure.
   
• This matchup has resonated well. We've been fortunate over the last six years to build this game into one of the premier games of the bowl season. Our local base is fantastic as far as ticket sales. We have less than 10,000 seats left. A&M has even fewer left. We are expecting a great base of current students, donors and former students from Texas A&M. You don't want to wait to get your tickets. We are going to have a full house from both groups. I would tell you not to wait. The best seats are already gone. It should be a great show.
   
• For us, Academy has added a whole lot that you don't even see. It's great to have our home-town sporting goods retailer. They are an official partner of the SEC and a partner of the Texans since day one. 98% of their stores are in the Big 12 and SEC footprint. They support us and our community. This is just another example of them supporting the greater-Houston area.
   
• Houston is a premier destination not just for college football games, but for major events. Look at our run with Super Bowls, Final Fours and everything else. We have a kick-off game next year between Baylor and Ole Miss. That will be Lane Kiffin's first game. Our game is the top attended game outside of the New Year's Six, Top-5 overall. Fans support us year in and year out. We're going to continue to partner with the Big 12 and SEC for years to come. We will be the center of the college football world in 2024 when the playoff comes to Houston. We have an excellent opportunity to continue growing this bowl game like we have over the last five years.