The college football bowl game that debuted at Petco Park last year is coming back downtown in 2023 with a new title sponsor and a few unresolved questions.
The newly monikered DirectTV Holiday Bowl is scheduled for Wednesday, December 27. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. for the postseason game that will match up teams to be determined from the Pac-12 and ACC conferences.
“We’re promising one of the best college football game experiences in the country,” says Mark Neville, CEO of Sports San Diego, which produces the Holiday Bowl.
Along with the game, which airs nationally on FOX, downtown residents can expect the return of the festive Holiday Bowl Parade, a spirited Battle of The Bands and lots of other game-related events (and street closures).
The DirectTV sponsorship was announced atop the flight deck of the USS Midway Museum. To enliven the unveiling, a parachutist carrying a DirecTV banner landed on the deck of the converted naval aircraft carrier anchored in the San Diego Bay.
Event organizers, many wearing trademark red blazers, were enthusiastic, though some questions remain up in the air about the future of the game.
Terms of the DirecTV deal were not disclosed.
The Holiday Bowl previously signed a five-year deal to play at Petco Park–pre-pandemic and before San Diego State University’s Snapdragon Stadium construction was completed.
COVID caused the cancellation of what would have been the 2020 premier of the game at Petco, the San Diego Padres’ home baseball field. In 2021, UCLA was slated to play North Carolina State University. Hours before the kickoff, UCLA backed out of the game, citing COVID concerns.
In true Holiday Bowl style, the 2022 game at Petco was a thriller. Oregon came from behind to beat the University of North Carolina, 28-27.
Some time after the 2022 game, the Holiday Bowl sued the Pac-12 Conference after failing to negotiate a settlement for losses incurred after UCLA pulled out in 2021. To date, neither the Pac-12 nor Oregon has been paid for the 2022 bowl appearance.
Sports San Diego’s Neville had no update on the legal side of the ball. He said the organization is moving forward with this year’s game as if it were outside the ongoing lawsuit.
The Holiday Bowl is under contract to include a Pac-12 team for two more games after this year. The even bigger question mark in that relationship is rampant college football conference realignment. After this year, all but two Pac-12 teams are leaving the conference.
The Holiday Bowl has a 44-year history. The former title sponsor was San Diego Country Credit Union, which had been associated with the game since 2017.
A DirectTV representative declined to discuss the length of its contract with the Holiday Bowl.
“Just like everybody else, we’re watching to see what happens in college football,” says DirecTV head of communications and community Jon Greer.
For ticket information, go to: DirecTV Holiday Bowl. SDSun
