So does it seem like there are a lot of bowl games with new names this year?
There are — and much of that came from related moves.
Consider, for example, that 38 days before a Jan. 2 kickoff at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., TicketCity, which in 2011 and 2012 sponsored what is now the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl, put its name on what used to be the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, a title sponsorship that was made available after Buffalo Wild Wings replaced Capital One in Orlando after Capital One took over the Orange Bowl from Discover.
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AT&T ended its Cotton Bowl deal but became presenting sponsor of the inaugural College Football Playoff championship game, which will be played at AT&T Stadium, which is also home of the newly renamed Goodyear Cotton Bowl.
Some other names, meanwhile, have been tweaked. The Chick-fil-A committee re-introduced the “Peach” moniker to the Atlanta game’s name this year following an eight-year absence, while the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville will be without the “Gator” name for the first time since its inception in 1946.
Elsewhere, AdvoCare moved its sponsorship from Shreveport to Houston, and Vizio went from the Rose to the Fiesta.
Overall, only three bowls can tout a decade-long run having the same name: Outback’s first title-sponsored game was played Jan. 1, 1996; San Diego County Credit Union has been the only title sponsor of the Poinsettia Bowl since that game’s debut in 2005; and the AutoZone Liberty Bowl name dates to 2004.
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SBJ Podcast:
David Broughton and Brandon McClung, SBJ's research staff, discuss the annual list of college bowl gifts.
