'It's fixing to get huge': Businessman Dean Barry will be bowl's title sponsor for the next three years

Businessman and unabashed Texarkana booster Dean Barry will be title sponsor of the next three Live United Texarkana Bowls.

Barry and his wife, LeCretia, will give $25,000 a year to help the bowl, which was streamed nationwide this year on ESPN3, to continue to grow. Some of their contribution will help the bowl increase its marketing efforts and to help participating schools bring larger student contingents and to feed them, said bowl chairman Allen Brown at a press conference Tuesday morning at the Chamber of Commerce.

I wouldn't be where I am without the people of Texarkana. I love Texarkana. I want to see it be the best it can possibly be.

The bowl's third game, played Dec. 5 between Oklahoma Central and Southwestern Oklahoma Central University, was the most successful yet, drawing more than 5,500 fans to Arkansas High's Razorback Stadium.

That allowed the bowl to present a check for $10,000 Tuesday to the United Way, which was the driving motivation behind the bowl's creation.

Brown said he hopes to see that amount grow exponentially with the help of the Barrys' resources, knowledge, credibility and prestige. One area of focus will be on building a grander halftime show, similar in nature to Toyota's halftime show on ESPN's Monday Night Football.

"The bowl has gotten bigger and better each year. Now it's fixing to get huge. This will propel our bowl to the next level," Brown said. "Dean and LeCretia are avid supporters of Texarkana in so many ways. They are associated with numerous non-profits and are selfless givers to those who are in need. To have them associated with the bowl game is a great honor."

Exactly how their names will be appended to Live United Texarkana Bowl is yet to be resolved. The phrase Agent Barry, associated with the multi-line insurance agency Barry founded in 1962 and has since sold to his employees, will be part of the name, as will the elements of the United Way and the name of the city.

"We're working on it," said Brown, who made it clear that the addition of the ideas and energy brought by Barry, a past chamber of commerce president, are at least as important as the money.

"We'll be able to invest in yard signs, billboards, radio, TV, whatever we have to do," Brown said. "He knows how to build a crowd."

The money will also go toward helping participating schools bring walk-ons and other team members not eligible for travel funding.

"More kids mean more parents and grandparents and more business for our hotels and restaurants," Brown said.

Barry, who prospered in more than a half-century in the insurance and other businesses, said he was drawn to supporting the bowl because it has become an economic driver and image builder for the town he loves. It was also driven by his admiration for Brown, whom he described by saying, "I've never seen a more sincere man in my life."

"I wouldn't be where I am without the people of Texarkana," Barry said. "I love Texarkana. I want to see it be the best it can possibly be."

The contribution of his time and resources, Barry said, is motivated by a lesson taught in Luke 12:48: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (NIV).

"I believe in that, and I live by that," Barry said.