The Bahamas Bowl is an

NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played annually in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

, at the 15,000-seat

Thomas Robinson Stadium Thomas Robinson Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. The largest stadium in the country, it is currently used mostly for soccer matches. The stadium currently has a capacity of 15,000 people, but has the ability to be expanded ...

. First held in 2014, the Bowl has tie-ins with the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

and

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

History

The inaugural edition of the Bahamas Bowl, played in 2014, was the first major (FBS or historical equivalent) bowl game to be played outside the United States and Canada between two U.S. teams since the January 1, 1937,

Bacardi Bowl The Bacardi Bowl was a college football bowl game played seven times in Havana, Cuba, at Almandares Park and La Tropical Stadium. The games were also referred to as the Rhumba Bowl and were the foremost event of Cuba’s annual National Sports F ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. The game featured teams from the

and

; that conference matchup has continued annually. In July 2019, the MAC announced a continuation of its tie-in with the bowl through the 2025–26 football season. From its inception to 2017, the game was sponsored by the

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants that was formed in 1972 ...

restaurant franchise and officially known as the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. After

Restaurant Brands International Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI) is a Canadian-based multinational fast food holding company. It was formed in 2014 by the $12.5 billion merger between American fast food restaurant chain Burger King and Canadian coffee shop and rest ...

acquired Popeyes in 2017, they declined to renew sponsorship.

Elk Grove Village, Illinois Elk Grove Village is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 32,812. Located northwest of Chicago along the Golden Corridor, the Village of Elk Grove Village was incorporat ...

—"home to the largest industrial park in the United States"—picked up title sponsorship in 2018, with the bowl using the official naming of Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl. The name lasted until Elk Grove Village ended its sponsorship in March 2020. On May 25, 2022, it was announced that HomeTown Lenders would be the new title sponsor of the game. The winning team is presented with a trophy, since 2016 named the Prime Minister's Trophy. The current trophy, in use since the 2018 playing, is approximately tall and weighs nearly . On October 2, 2020, the 2020 edition of the bowl was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and related travel restrictions.

Game results

Source:

MVPs

Most appearances

Updated through the December 2022 edition (8 games, 16 total appearances). ;Teams with multiple appearances ;Teams with a single appearance Won: Buffalo,

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

Lost:

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

, Miami (OH)

Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2022 edition (8 games, 16 total appearances).

Game records

Source:

Media coverage

Television

Radio

Elvis Gallegos served as the analyst following the death of Rob Best on October 4, 2020. During the 2021 bowl broadcast, Kyle Wiggs announced that the Bahamas Bowl broadcast booth had been renamed the Rob Best Broadcast Booth as a memorial to Best.

References

External links

* {{Bowl game broadcasters navbox 2014 establishments in the Bahamas American football in the Bahamas Sports competitions in the Bahamas College football bowls Recurring sporting events established in 2014 Winter events in the Bahamas