The LA Bowl is an annual NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college footballbowl game played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, first played in December 2021. The bowl has tie-ins with the Mountain West and Pac-12 conferences. The Pac-12 or its "legacy schools" (the 10 schools departing the conference in 2024 for the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC) will continue to fulfill the Pac-12 tie-in obligation through the 2025 season.[1] The LA Bowl is one of three bowl games that have never released payout totals for the teams involved in the game (Myrtle Beach Bowl and the Fenway Bowl are the others).
History
The Mountain West Conference and Pac-12 Conference announced tie-ins for the new bowl in July 2019, under a five-year agreement.[2] The game was officially unveiled in February 2020. It matches up the Mountain West champion (or the next-highest pick available if the conference champion is selected for the New Year's Six) against the fifth pick from the Pac-12. Previously, the Mountain West champion had received an automatic bid to the Las Vegas Bowl.[3] The game is owned and operated by the owners of SoFi Stadium,[4] StadCo LA, LLC.[5]
Three weeks before the scheduled bowl game debut on December 30, 2020, the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
On June 16, 2021, the game was renamed the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl as part of a naming rights agreement with comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Announcing the renaming on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel remarked that it was the first bowl game to be named for a living person.[7] The investment bank Stifel was later added as a presenting sponsor.[4]
On October 21, 2023, the bowl announced that it had signed a new multi-year sponsorship deal with former NFL star Rob Gronkowski.[8] On December 1, 2023, it added a naming rights partnership with Starco Brands, renaming the bowl the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk.[9] In 2024, the sponsorship was moved to Starco's Art of Sport brand, renaming the game the Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk.[10]
Game results
All rankings are taken from the AP poll prior to the game being played.
