The Florida Beach Bowl was officially announced today in a press conference that took place in  L.A. Lee YMCA/Mizell Community Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The press conference was streamed on HBCU+ and featured Urban Edge Network co-founder and CEO Todd Brown, Florida Beach Bowl president Victor Robenson, and SIAC Commissioner Dr. Anthony Hollomon. CIAA commissioner Jacquie McWilliams-Parker was in attendance virtually and gave remarks via Zoom.

Dr. Hollomon in his opening statement, spoke of his excitement for the extended opportunity for both SIAC and CIAA student-athletes. “We are excited for this opportunity for our student-athletes. We think this will be monumental…the CIAA and the SIAC competing in a real bowl game. The experience by our student-athletes will be something that we hope to build on and we hope that this be the first of many Florida Beach Bowls and we're looking forward to being back here with you in December.”

Later on, Dr. McWilliams-Parker said, “The CIAA is extremely excited about this opportunity with our colleague, the SIAC. I do think dreams do come true when you have discussions about opportunities, particularly for our region. Two institutions that are looking [for’ the same exposure as our Division I colleagues have…and adding this new component the Beach Bowl, it really creates a better opportunity for collaboration very easily between conferences…this opportunity was a long time coming for the post season. The CIAA and SIAC used to have the Pioneer Bowl and we haven't had it since 2012.”

The Pioneer Bowl was a bowl game started in 1997 that pitted the CIAA & SIAC against each other during bowl season serving as the unofficial Division II National championship many years when the SIAC and the CIAA champion faced off. Many matchups featured the second or third ranked SIAC and CIAA teams at that time if the respective conference champions were afforded an invite to the Division II playoffs. Outside of 2002 & 2023 the game was played every year until 2013 when the event was cancelled. It was officially suspended in the 2014 season.

The SIAC & CIAA have been looking for collaborative opportunities of the ilk of the MEAC/SWAC Challenge and Celebration Bowl over the past few seasons. Stephen Gaither of HBCU Gameday exclusively reported in May that the conference looked to have a Week 0 game between the conferences featuring the respective conference champions but their waiver request was denied. The SIAC & CIAA have since partnered with the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), Gulf South Conference (GSC), and the Lone Star Conference (LSC) to sponsor a proposal that would allow Week 0 Division II games to be played. The proposal will be voted on in 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona on January 13th.

Urban Edge Network co-founder Todd Brown spoke about how the broadcast of the game via HBCU+ will broadcast the game and expose the student athletes to a new audience.

“The conversation that we're having about the experience…the four days is going to go far beyond the experience…but its going to go into 303 million devices, It's going to be on linear television with our partner which is another black owned cable company called Impact [Network]…there will be a free, not a plus upcharge, and you're going to be able to see this.

He continued, “So we're super excited to be a media partner. We are in partnership with a number of people that have brought experiences like the Orange Bowl  where you see large brands spend millions and millions of dollars. So part of the opportunity that we're excited about is it needs to be the right size thing to create the kind of value proposition where the people in South Florida embrace football in a way that is a collegiate level with what we see in Broward County…in Dade County that produces a lion's share of D1 athletes.”

The inaugural Florida Beach Bowl will take place at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. Tickets will go on sale on Monday.