Fiesta Bowl | |
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PlayStation Fiesta Bowl | |
Stadium | University of Phoenix Stadium |
Location | Glendale, Arizona |
Previous stadiums | Sun Devil Stadium (1971–2006) |
Previous locations | Tempe, Arizona (1971–2006) |
Operated | 1971–present |
Conference tie-ins | At-large/Group of Five (Dec. 2014–present) |
Previous conference tie-ins |
WAC (1971–1978) Big 12 (1997–2014) |
Payout | US$17 million (As of 2009[update]) |
Sponsors | |
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Former names | |
Fiesta Bowl (1971–1985, 1991–1992)
Sunkist Fiesta Bowl (1986–1990) IBM OS/2 Fiesta Bowl (1993–1995) Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (1996–Jan. 2014) Vizio Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 2014) BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 2016) |
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2016 season matchup | |
Ohio State vs. Clemson (Clemson 31–0) | |
2017 season matchup | |
TBD (December 30, 2017) |
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium.
As of November 2016, it is sponsored by PlayStation. From 1996 through the January 2014 game, Frito-Lay was the bowl's title sponsor through its Tostitos tortilla chip brand. It was most recently sponsored by BattleFrog, creators of the obstacle racing series featured in the ESPN program BattleFrog College Championship for the January 2016 game and Vizio for the December 2014 game. Other previous sponsors include Sunkist and IBM.
In 1998, the Fiesta Bowl became part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), and before 2006 every four years (most recently in 2010) was the designee for the national championship game. Beginning with the 2014 season, Fiesta Bowl became a member of College Football Playoff, hosting a semifinal game every three years, and all the teams playing in this bowl will be selected by the CFP Selection Committee.
The Fiesta Bowl was born from the Western Athletic Conference's frustrated attempts to obtain bowl invitations for its champions. In 1968 and 1969 respectively, champions Wyoming and Arizona State failed to secure any bowl selection. The next year, undefeated Arizona State was bypassed by the major bowls and had to settle for an appearance in the less prestigious Peach Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl therefore initially provided an automatic berth for the WAC champion.