The Independence Bowl owes the city of Shreveport, $500,000 as repayment of the loan floated in the direction of the Bowl after the 2007 game. The City Council and Mayor Glover approved approximately $600,000 for the Bowl to use in order to finish paying Alabama and Colorado, the two participating schools in 2007.

The loan would not have been necessary if then-title sponsor, PetroSun had fulfilled it's financial obligations. Nearly three years later, with a half-million dollars in debt still floating around, the Bowl finds itself in a precarious spot. Their host facility, Independence Stadium, is in dire need of a new surface to replace the Astro-Play synthetic turf that was installed in 2000. The cost? $500,000.

The Bowl's plan to utilize the financial resources of new sponsor, AdvoCare, to resurface the field and in turn, use the refurbishment as payback of the loan, will be voted on by the City Council on July 13th.

When asked if getting the new turf is vital to the Bowl's short and long-term success, AdvoCare V-100 Independence Bowl Executive Director, Missy Setters said, "It's a big aspect. Both of our conference partners and our two previous conference partners have expressed the need to have it replaced and the importance of having it replaced because when you get to a certain point, it becomes a safety issue and it's not just for the colleges that are playing here or in the Port City Classic, for example but you're talking about all the high school kids, with soccer, lacrosse and football. You don't want 15, 16 year old kids blowing out a knee because the turf needs to be replaced."