The Redbox Bowl plans to find a new venue and return to the postseason slate following the '21 seasonGETTY IMAGES
The Redbox Bowl will not be played this year in the Bay Area, but the coronavirus pandemic is "only partially at fault" for the event's hiatus, according to Jon Wilner of the San Jose MERCURY NEWS. The 18-year-old event has matched the Pac-12 against the Big Ten at Levi's Stadium since '14, but last winter, the 49ers made the decision "to not renew the current agreement." Before the bowl game was "able to secure a new home within the region, the pandemic struck." The Redbox Bowl "plans to find a new venue and return to the postseason stage" following the '21 season. Unlike many postseason games, the Redbox Bowl was "not owned by ESPN, and that independence made for a precarious position." With the Redbox Bowl on hiatus, the Pac-12 "will have seven bowl partners for the upcoming season" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 8/1).
MORE TO COME? USA TODAY's Eddie Timanus noted while the Redbox Bowl is "considered a minor date on the postseason calendar, it likely won't be the first casualty of the college football season that will be highly unusual because of the coronavirus pandemic" (USA TODAY, 8/1). YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg wrote with "uncertainty abound throughout college football about the viability of a season, lesser bowl games could be destined to be shelved this season" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/31).
