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| Fiesta Bowl | |
|---|---|
| Vrbo Fiesta Bowl | |
 | |
| Stadium | State Farm Stadium |
| Location | Glendale, Arizona |
| Previous stadiums | Sun Devil Stadium (1971–2006) |
| Previous locations | Tempe, Arizona (1971–2006) |
| Operated | 1971–present |
| Championship affiliation | |
| Previous conference tie-ins | |
| Payout | US$17 million (As of 2009[update])[1] |
| Sponsors | |
| |
| Former names | |
| |
| 2023 matchup | |
| Oregon vs. Liberty (Oregon 45–6) | |
| 2024 matchup | |
| (December 31, 2024) | |
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Since 2022, it has been sponsored by Vrbo and officially known as the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.[2] Previous sponsors include PlayStation (December 2016–2022), BattleFrog (January 2016),[3] Vizio (December 2014),[4][5][6] Tostitos (1996–January 2014), IBM (1993–1995) and Sunkist (1986–1990).
Since 1992, the Fiesta Bowl has been part of some organization of bowls designed to determine an undisputed national champion. In 1992, it was named as one of the Bowl Coalition games, but the bowl was never used to determine the champion. In 1995, the organizers of the Fiesta Bowl joined with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl to form the Bowl Alliance, with each bowl guaranteed to host a championship game as the coaches’ poll was contractually obligated to choose the winner of the Bowl Alliance championship game as its national champion. The Fiesta Bowl hosted the first of these games in January 1996.
After the 1997 season, the three Bowl Alliance bowls joined with the Rose Bowl to form the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), with the Fiesta Bowl guaranteed to host the national championship game every four years. As with the Bowl Alliance, the Fiesta Bowl was given first chance at hosting the BCS' championship in 1999; they also hosted the game in 2003. When the BCS reconstituted itself following the 2005 season, it began staging a separate national championship game, which rotated between BCS bowl sites.
Beginning with the 2014 season, the Fiesta Bowl became a member of the College Football Playoff, hosting a semifinal game every three years through the 2022 season; all the teams playing in the bowl were selected by the CFP Selection Committee.
With the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams in 2024, the Fiesta Bowl will become an annual feature of that playoff, along with the other New Year's Six bowls.
The Fiesta Bowl has donated over $12 million to charity.[7] In 2020, it donated $1 million in emergency relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
- ^ "Real Insight. Real Fans. Real Conversations". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
- ^ "VRBO BECOMES NEW TITLE PARTNER FOR NEWLY-NAMED VRBO FIESTA BOWL". Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- ^ "BattleFrog Announced as Title Sponsor of 45th Annual Fiesta Bowl" (Press release). Fiesta Bowl. December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
- ^ "Vizio to sponsor Fiesta Bowl".
- ^ "Fiesta Bowl Announces VIZIO Partnership" (Press release). Fiesta Bowl. September 28, 2014. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
- ^ "Fiesta Bowl, Cactus Bowl both looking for new naming rights sponsors". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
- ^ Hobson, Will. "He runs one amateur football game per year. He makes more than $1 million - NY Daily News". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
- ^ Harker, Victoria (2020-04-21). "Most charitable bowl in nation focuses on youth programs during COVID-19". Chamber Business News. Retrieved 2020-07-23.