Several Riverside organizations, including Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson’s office, this week announced a new spin on a longtime local athletic rivalry between the city’s two Division I universities as part of an effort to increase tourism and support the local economy.
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“As we continue to grow our sports, entertainment and recreation opportunities, events like this gives us a chance to showcase Riverside to new audiences,” Dawson said in an email to The Riverside Record. “The more visibility we can create around our universities, athletes, local businesses and community, the more opportunities we have to strengthen Riverside’s reputation as a place people want to visit, experience and come back to.”
Exhibition games between the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and California Baptist University (CBU) have long been dubbed the “Crosstown Showdown.” However, just two months after CBU officially joined the same Division I conference that UCR competes in, that rivalry has been formalized and turned into a yearlong competition taking on the moniker.
As part of the contest, the men’s and women’s teams from both universities will go head-to-head 14 times. Those matchups will earn the universities points and, at the end of the academic year, the school with the highest score will be crowned the champion and get the chance to raise the raincross trophy.
“CBU and UCR have enjoyed a crosstown rivalry for years, but competing in the same conference gives us an opportunity to take the Crosstown Showdown to another level,” Dr. Micah Parker, CBU vice president for athletics, said in an email to The Record. “With so many Big West schools within driving distance, we can draw more fans from across Southern California to Riverside for these matchups, creating additional activity for local restaurants, businesses and hotels.”
The city previously saw the benefits of having a spotlight shined on its college athletics after CBU sent both its men’s and women’s basketball teams to March Madness, according to Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce President Nicholas Adcock.
By formalizing the rivalry, Adcock said the city could continue capitalizing on that positive exposure and eventually create a large-scale tradition similar to that of the one between the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California.
That would then lead to more eyes on the city’s local businesses either through partnership opportunities or an increase in foot-traffic via tourism.
“We can really truly leverage all the wonderful things that are happening at those universities as a real benefit of our economy,” he said. “This is a way of building that relationship and strengthening it even further.”
Dawson added that the new tradition could also help new students, some who will be living in Riverside for the first time, explore the city’s neighborhoods and come to see it as a long-term destination.
She added that the city, to ensure the Crosstown Showdown is a success, would use its tourism initiative Visit Riverside to promote the rivalry and tell the larger story behind the competition.
The announcement comes on the heels of several other major projects the city is taking on to grow its entertainment and tourism sectors.
In January, the Riverside City Council voted to clear a path for developers to propose, and eventually build an all-in-one residential, commercial and entertainment project in downtown called Riverside Alive. The city has also moved forward with the development of a sports complex and adventure center.
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