HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The San Francisco Bowl was an annual postseason
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...
certified by the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
and played in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
. Originally named the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl during its first two editions from 2002 to 2003, it was the Emerald Bowl from 2004 to 2009, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl from 2010 to 2013, the Foster Farms Bowl from 2014 to 2017, and the Redbox Bowl from 2018 to 2020. San Francisco Bowl naming returned during planning for a 2021 game. The game had four sellouts—2006 (UCLA vs. Florida State), 2008 (Cal vs. Miami), 2009 (USC vs. Boston College), and 2011 (Nevada vs. Boston College)—and three of the highest rated bowls ever televised on ESPN. It also gained a national reputation for the quality of hospitality provided to the participating teams. The game was most recently played in December 2019. From 2002 to 2013, it was played at Pacific Bell Park, home of the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
, in
San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. From 2014 through 2019, it was played at
Levi's Stadium Levi's Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, United States, just west of the much larger city of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League (N ...
, home of the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
, in
Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
. At the end of July 2020, organizers canceled the 2020 edition of the bowl due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
; at the same time, the 49ers released a statement noting that "the decision has been made to not renew the current agreement to host the game moving forward". On September 10, 2021, the game was again canceled for the 2021–22 bowl season, putting its future in jeopardy.


History

The game was founded by John Marks, president of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, San Francisco Giants executive Pat Gallagher and sports industry veteran Gary Cavalli, former Associate Athletic Director at Stanford University and president of the pioneering American Basketball League, for the purpose of utilizing the Giants' new ballpark, bringing visitors to San Francisco during a traditionally slow time of the year, and rewarding two successful teams with a week in San Francisco. Plans for the inaugural 2002 San Francisco Bowl were established on Dec. 2, 2002, when the
Air Force Falcons football The Air Force Falcons football program represents the United States Air Force Academy in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. Air Force has been a member of the Mountain West Conference s ...
program accepted a bid to play against an undetermined team from the
Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
. Their initial sponsor was Diamond Foods, a producer of
walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...
s and other nuts under the Emerald brand name, resulting in the name Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl, and later the Emerald Bowl. In 2010,
Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...
became the sponsor of the bowl and announced the new name, which the corporation launched as part of a broader hunger relief program.
Mondelēz International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...
continued to support the game and the program related with Feeding America in 2013. In August 2014, the bowl's official website listed the game's name as the San Francisco Bowl once again. However, on November 11, 2014, it was announced that the San Francisco Bowl Game Association had reached a multi-year naming rights deal with
Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...
-based poultry company Foster Farms, resulting in the game being named the Foster Farms Bowl. On July 12, 2016, the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
team announced that it had taken over management of the Foster Farms Bowl from the San Francisco Bowl Game Association, and also announced a new, four-year broadcast rights deal with
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
, replacing ESPN. In September 2018,
Redbox Redbox Automated Retail, LLC was an American video rental and streaming media company, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois west of Chicago. Redbox specialized in automated DVD rental kiosks, and operated transactional and ad-supported streamin ...
(a chain of video rental kiosks) announced it had become the new title sponsor.


Conference tie-ins

The game had a contract to host the
Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...
's sixth-place team during the 2010 through 2013 seasons. There were multiple contracts that determined the opponent. In 2011, the Pac-12 team's opponent was
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, replacing
Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
, which did not achieve
bowl eligibility Bowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves this state, it is described as "bowl-eligible". ...
; in 2012, it was
Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
; and in 2013, it was BYU. Had these teams not qualified for bowl eligibility, they would have been replaced by teams from the
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
(ACC) or the
Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...
(MAC). Beginning with the 2014 season, teams come from the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences. With
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
's appearance in the 2018 edition,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
and
Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
are the only Pac-12 members who have not appeared in the game.


Field configuration

Because Pacific Bell Park (as it was named when it first hosted the bowl) is a
baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...
and not normally used for football, arrangement of the field required both teams to be on the same sideline (southeast), separated by a barrier at the 50-yard line (in shallow right-center field). The opposite sideline (northwest) ran along the third base line, with an end zone near the first base dugout, and the other near the left field wall. Primary seating was in the third base grandstand, with temporary bleacher seating in right-center field.


Results

Rankings are based on the AP Poll prior to the game being played. Source:


MVPs


Most appearances

Updated through the December 2019 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances). ;Teams with multiple appearances ;Teams with a single appearance Won (11):
Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...
,
Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
,
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
,
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
, Oregon State,
Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...
,
Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...
,
USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...
,
Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...
,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Lost (9):
Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
,
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
, BYU, Colorado State,
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...
,
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, Miami (FL),
Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...
,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
Of the members of the Pac-12 at the discontinuation of the bowl, only
Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
and
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
never appeared in the game.


Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2019 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances). * Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year. * The Pac-12's record includes appearances when the conference was the Pac-10 (3–1). * Virginia Tech (2002) and Boston College (2003) appeared as members of the Big East; the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...
(The American) retains the Big East's conference charter following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines. * Independent appearances: Navy (2004, 2012) and BYU (2013). * The WAC no longer sponsors FBS-level football.


Game records


Media coverage

From 2002 through 2015, the bowl was televised by
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
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 ...
; from 2016 to 2019, it was carried by
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
.


References

{{Redbox Bowl College football bowls in California Sports competitions in San Francisco Sports in Santa Clara, California American football competitions in the San Francisco Bay Area Defunct college football bowls 2002 establishments in California 2019 disestablishments in California