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Birmingham Bowl
Stadium	Protective Stadium
Location	Birmingham, Alabama
Previous stadiums	Legion Field (2006–2020)
Operated	2006–present
Conference tie-ins	The American, SEC Alternates: C-USA, MAC
Payout	US$1,374,545 (2019 season)
Website	birminghambowl.com
Sponsors
Papa John's (2006–2010) BBVA Compass (2011–2014) Sterling Jewelers (2018) TicketSmarter (2019–2022) 76 (2023)
Former names
Birmingham Bowl (2006, working title) PapaJohns.com Bowl (2006–2010) BBVA Compass Bowl (2011–2014) Birmingham Bowl (2015–2017) Jared Birmingham Bowl (2018) TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl (2019–2022) 76 Birmingham Bowl (2023)
2023 matchup
Troy vs. Duke (Duke 17–10)
2024 matchup
Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt 35–27)

The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game played annually in Birmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated by ESPN Events. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) also provides marketing, management and game-day operations support. The game was previously known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl (2006–2010) and the BBVA Compass Bowl (2011–2014). From its inception through 2020, the game was played at Legion Field; since the December 2021 game, it has been held at Protective Stadium.

History

The bowl marked the return of post-season football to the city of Birmingham, which previously hosted the Dixie Bowl from 1947 to 1948, the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985 (which relocated to Tampa and became the Outback Bowl), and the All-American Bowl from 1986 to 1990 (which was canceled when the SEC Championship Game was awarded to the city).

In the inaugural edition of the bowl, played on December 23, 2006, the South Florida Bulls defeated the East Carolina Pirates, 24–7, in front of a crowd of 32,023. Running back Benjamin Williams of South Florida scored the bowl's first points on a 16-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game; he added a second touchdown during the first quarter and was named the game's MVP.

After being held in December for its first three years, the fourth edition of the bowl was played in January 2010. As a result, there was no game during the 2009 calendar year. The bowl was subsequently played in January through its ninth edition, held in January 2015. The tenth edition of the bowl saw a return to December, resulting in two editions of the bowl being played during calendar year 2015. The bowl remained in December through its 13th edition, held in December 2018. The 14th edition of the bowl was held in January 2020, thus there was no game during calendar year 2019.

The January 2021 edition of the bowl was cancelled due to an insufficient number of teams being available to fill all 2020–21 bowl games, following a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bowl was originally played at Legion Field, located west of central Birmingham. With construction of a new football stadium on the grounds of the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex closer to central Birmingham, the bowl was expected to move there. Since the December 2021 edition, the bowl has been played at Protective Stadium.

Conference tie-ins

The bowl originally had a four-year agreement with Conference USA (C-USA) to match a representative of that conference against an opponent from the Big East Conference, but the bowl's officials later appealed to the NCAA for a recertification which was granted in late April 2008. In 2008 and 2009, the bowl featured the ninth bowl-eligible team of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and a team from the Big East Conference.

The game currently features teams from the SEC and the American Athletic Conference (The American). Should either of these conferences not fulfill their bowl commitments, a team from C-USA or the Mid-American Conference (MAC) will take their place, provided it is bowl eligible. Otherwise, the game will choose an at-large team. This happened in 2008, when the SEC was unable to send a team; the bowl selected North Carolina State of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to face Rutgers from the Big East, even though the bowl had an arrangement with the Sun Belt Conference at the time, and that conference had at least one bowl-eligible team it could send. This occurred again in 2022 when the bid was brought down to the Sun Belt Conference.

Sponsorship

From 2006 through 2010, the game was the PapaJohns.com Bowl, named after Papa John's Pizza, who became the title sponsor signing a multi-year agreement in November 2006. On August 6, 2010, Papa John's announced it would not renew its sponsorship, after having secured a sponsorship deal with the National Football League.

The game was temporarily renamed the Birmingham Bowl until BBVA Compass was announced as its title sponsor on November 4, 2010, officially changing its name to the BBVA Compass Bowl. The bowl was sponsored by BBVA through the January 2014 game, following which BBVA Compass declined to renew its sponsorship, and the game was subsequently renamed the Birmingham Bowl.

The 2018 edition was sponsored by the Jared brand of Sterling Jewelers, and the 2019–2022 editions were sponsored by TicketSmarter.

On November 30, 2023, the 76 chain of gas stations was announced as the new title sponsor of the game. This arrangement was in place for just one edition of the game.

Game results

Rankings are from the AP Poll from before the game was played.

Source:

MVPs

Source:

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2024 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won (7): Duke, Florida, Ole Miss, Rutgers, SMU, UConn, Wake Forest
Lost (8): Boston College, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, NC State, Southern Miss, Texas Tech, Troy

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2024 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Record for The American includes appearances of the Big East Conference, as The American retains the charter of the original Big East, following its 2013 realignment. Teams representing the Big East appeared in seven games, compiling a 5–2 record.

Game records

Source:

Media coverage

Except for the first two editions of the bowl, which were televised on ESPN2, the bowl has been televised on ESPN.

References

1. "2019 Bowl Schedule". collegefootballpoll.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
2. "ESPN Regional Television to Own and Operate New PapaJohns.com Bowl Game". May 9, 2006. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
3. Solomon, Jon (December 24, 2006). "Cheers for Papajohns.com Bowl". The Birmingham News. Archived from the original on March 29, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
4. ^ "2021 Birmingham Bowl canceled". wsfa.com. WBRC. December 20, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
5. "Protective wins naming rights for Birmingham stadium". psam.uk.com. April 19, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
6. "Stadium". ticketsmarterbirminghambowl.com.
7. "PapaJohns.com Bowl receives two-year tie-in with SEC". CNNSI.com. Associated Press. May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 5, 2008.
8. "SEC won't be in Birmingham's BBVA Compass Bowl, could be replaced by C-USA". November 29, 2011.
9. "PapaJohns.com Signs on as Title Sponsor of Inaugural PapaJohns.com Bowl Game". November 16, 2006. Archived from the original on March 27, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
10. ^ Solomon, Jon (August 7, 2010). "Papa John's: New NFL strategy, higher ESPN financial demand mean cutting bowl ties". The Birmingham News. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
11. Russell, Hubbard (November 4, 2010). "BBVA Compass to take over sponsorship of Birmingham bowl game". The Birmingham News. Archived from the original on November 7, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
12. "BBVA Compass to end sponsorship of bowl game in Birmingham" The Biz Journals. 2013-04-03
13. "The University of Memphis and Wake Forest University Selected to Play in the 2018 Jared Birmingham Bowl" (PDF). Retrieved December 2, 2018.
14. "TicketSmarter Named Title Sponsor of Birmingham Bowl" (PDF). Retrieved November 27, 2019.
15. "76 Named Title Sponsor of Birmingham Bowl". Retrieved November 30, 2023.
16. ^ "History". ticketsmarterbirminghambowl.com. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
17. @BuzzSportsRadio (December 23, 2023). "Duke CB Chandler Rivers is game MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Twitter.
18. Weinstein, Robbie (December 27, 2024). "Vanderbilt tops Georgia Tech to win Birmingham Bowl, clinches first winning season since 2013". 247sports.com. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
19. "Game Records". ticketsmarterbirminghambowl.com. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
20. Kelly, Doug (ed.). "2019–20 Football Bowl Association Media Guide" (PDF). footballbowlassociation.com. p. 166. Retrieved January 3, 2020.

External links

• Official site

• Birmingham Bowl
• American football competitions in Birmingham, Alabama
• Recurring sporting events established in 2006
• College football bowls in Alabama
• 21st century in Birmingham, Alabama