What’s in a Name? $99 Million for Bowl Game Title Deals

For the second year in a row, college football’s 35 bowl games will bring in just under $100 million from their title sponsors.  The majority of those dollars—about $71 million—will go to ESPN, which packages bowl naming rights with season-long ad packages for the BCS bowls, plus sells title to the seven bowl games owned by its ESPN Regional Television unit.

Only three of the 35 games played between December 15 and January 7 had a change in their top sponsor this year.

Florida Citrus Sports was able to replace sporting goods retailer Champs Sports with apparel manufacturer Russell Athletic for the game in Orlando on December 27; restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings takes over title of Tempe, Ariz.’s December 29 game from Insight Enterprises; and the New Year’s Day game in the Cotton Bowl (not to be confused with the AT&T Cotton Bowl played three days later at Cowboys Stadium) changes from the TicketCity Bowl to the Heart of Dallas Bowl presented by PlainsCapital Bank.

The Heart of Dallas Bowl—named for the new nonprofit organization that is partnering with the City of Dallas to produce and distribute proceeds from the game to civic and charitable organizations—is one of only three bowl games without a title sponsor, joining the Rose Bowl presented by Vizio and the Military Bowl presented by Northrup Grumman.