The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual
college football 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 Subdivi ...
played at
Raymond James Stadium
Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The s ...
in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, usually on
New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to 2022. It is organized by the Tampa Bay Bowl Association under
Jim McVay, who has been the president and CEO since 1988.
History
![Raymond James Stadium02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Raymond_James_Stadium02.JPG)
The game was not Tampa's first bowl game; the
Cigar Bowl was played at old
Phillips Field near downtown from 1947 to 1954. The Cigar Bowl matched small college teams, making the first edition of the Hall of Fame Bowl, played in December 1986, the first major bowl game to be played in the area.
Hall of Fame Bowl
The
Hall of Fame Classic was held at
Legion Field
Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in ho ...
in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
, from 1977 to 1985. In the spring of 1986, the
National Football Foundation
The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...
and
College Football Hall of Fame decided to discontinue their association with the bowl and realign with a new bowl game to be played in
Tampa Stadium
Tampa Stadium (nicknamed The Big Sombrero and briefly known as Houlihan's Stadium) was a large open-air stadium (maximum capacity about 74,000) located in Tampa, Florida, which opened in 1967 and was significantly expanded in 1974–75. The faci ...
which would inherit the Hall of Fame Bowl name. Initially, the Hall of Fame Bowl did not have agreements with any conferences, so it usually matched a school from either the
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...
(SEC) or the
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) against a team from another region of the country.
Outback Bowl
Outback Steakhouse
Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australi ...
became the game's title sponsor in April 1995. At the same time, the bowl signed agreements with the
SEC and the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
, creating an annual inter-conference matchup that has continued since. In 1999, the bowl moved from Tampa Stadium (then known as
Houlihan's Stadium) into the newly constructed
Raymond James Stadium
Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The s ...
, which had been constructed nearby.
ReliaQuest Bowl
Following the end of sponsorship by Outback Steakhouse, the name Tampa Bay Bowl was used on an interim basis until
ReliaQuest, a cybersecurity company based in Tampa, was announced as the new title sponsor on June 9, 2022, making the game's new name the ReliaQuest Bowl.
The game
![Nick_Marshall_in_2015_Outback_Bowl](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Nick_Marshall_in_2015_Outback_Bowl.jpg)
The bowl is played on
New Year's Day unless January 1 falls on a Sunday, in which case it is moved to the following Monday. It is usually the first game to start on a day which is traditionally full of college bowl games, and has kicked off as early as 11AM.
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
has had television rights to the game since 1993. Under an extension of those rights signed in 2010, ESPN broadcasts the game on either
ABC, ESPN, or
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%).
ESPN2 was initially fo ...
, in conjunction with the
Citrus Bowl and the
New Year's Six
The New Year's Six, sometimes abbreviated as NY6, is an unofficial but commonly used term used to describe the following NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl ...
bowl games.
Before 1993, the Hall of Fame Bowl aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
.
Upon signing agreements with the SEC and Big Ten in 1995, the bowl had the third pick of teams from each conference after the
Bowl Championship Series (BCS) teams were placed. Since 2014, both the SEC and Big Ten have worked with a group of several bowl games, including this one, to place their bowl-eligible teams after the
College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...
(CFP) and associated bowls have made their selections.
As of 2017, the bowl's payout was $3.5 million for each team.
Game results
Rankings are based on the
AP Poll
The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...
prior to the game being played.
Source:
MVPs
The bowl has named an MVP since inception; in the inaugural game, there were co-MVPs.
Most appearances
Updated through the January 2023 edition (37 games, 74 total appearances).
;Teams with multiple appearances
January 2023 participant
;Teams with a single appearance
Won (5):
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
,
Clemson,
Michigan State
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
,
Ole Miss
Lost (5):
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
,
NC State
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...
,
Purdue
Appearances by conference
Updated through the January 2023 edition (37 games, 74 total appearances).
January 2023 participant
* Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
* Results reflect conference affiliations at the time each game was played.
* Big East appearances: Syracuse (1992) and Boston College (1993); the
American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
(The American) has retained the charter of the original Big East, following its
2013 realignment.
* Independent appearances: Boston College (1986) and Syracuse (1988).
Game records
Source:
Media coverage
The inaugural edition of the bowl was carried by
Mizlou
Mizlou Television Network, Inc. or Mizlou Communications, Inc., is a former sports broadcast television network. It was active from 1962 to 1991, and in 1992 it was re-established as Mizlou Television Network, Inc., which is now based in Tampa, ...
in December 1986, with
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
carrying the next five editions (1988–1992).
[ Since 1993, the game has been carried by ]ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
or ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%).
ESPN2 was initially fo ...
, except for four broadcasts on ABC (2011, 2012, 2017, and 2021).
References
External links
*
{{HCFPEI
College football bowls
Sports competitions in Tampa, Florida
1986 establishments in Florida
New Year's Day