Armed Forces Bowl
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Stadium	Amon G. Carter Stadium
Location	Fort Worth, Texas
Previous stadiums	Gerald J. Ford Stadium (2010–2011)
Previous locations	University Park, Texas (2010–2011)
Operated	2003–present
Conference tie-ins	Big 12 (2014, 2016, 2018) Big Ten (2015, 2017, 2019) American (2014, 2018) MWC (2015, 2019) Navy (2016) Army (2017)[1]
Payout	US$1.35 million (2019 season)[2]
Website	armedforcesbowl.com
Sponsors
PlainsCapital Bank (2003–2004) Bell Helicopter (2006–2013) Lockheed Martin (2014–present)
Former names
PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl (2003–2004) Fort Worth Bowl (2005) Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (2006–2013)
2026 matchup
Rice vs.Texas State (Texas State 41–10)

TheArmed Forces Bowl, formerly theFort Worth Bowl from 2003 to 2005, is an annual postseasoncollege footballbowl game. First played in 2003, the game is normally held at the 45,000-seatAmon G. Carter Stadium on the campus ofTexas Christian University inFort Worth, Texas. The 2010 and 2011 editions were instead played atGerald J. Ford Stadium inUniversity Park, Texas, when Amon G. Carter Stadium underwent a reconstruction project. Since 2014, the game has been sponsored byLockheed Martin and is officially known as theLockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Previous sponsors includeBell Helicopter (2006–2013) andPlainsCapital Bank (2003–2004).

The contest is one of 14 bowls produced byESPN Events (previously ESPN Regional Television) and has been televised annually onESPN since its inception. Armed Forces Insurance is the official Insurance Partner of the Armed Forces Bowl and has sponsored the Great American Patriot Award, presented at halftime at the bowl, since 2006.^[3]

The bowl was first played in December 2003, featuring two ranked teams, No. 18Boise State and No. 19TCU. It was the only edition to include a ranked team (per theAP Poll) until No. 22 Army played in December 2018.

In 2010 and 2011 whenAmon G. Carter Stadium underwent a reconstruction project, the bowl was moved toGerald J. Ford Stadium in nearbyUniversity Park, Texas.

Through the December 2024 playing, one of the three FBS-playingservice academies (Army,Navy, andAir Force) has appeared in the game 14 times. Contractual tie-ins with theAmerican Conference (home of Army and Navy) and theMountain West Conference (home of Air Force) assures that one of those schools could appear in the game every year, ifbowl-eligible and not already committed to another bowl.

The 2018 game, between Army andHouston, was the first sellout in the bowl's 16-year history.^[4]

The bowl game was inaugurated in 2003 as the PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl, reflecting the sponsorship ofPlainsCapital Bank. The bank's sponsorship ended after the 2004 edition,^[5] and the 2005 game was staged without corporate sponsorship.

Alltel was to assume the title sponsorship and naming rights to the game beginning in 2006, which would have been titled the Alltel Wireless Bowl to promote its mobile division, but the deal fell through.^[6] Instead, Fort Worth-basedBell Helicopter Textron took over sponsorship, and thus the game became officially known as the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.^[7] The Bell sponsorship ended after the 2013 edition.^[8] During this time, the 2010 and 2011 Armed Forces Bowl were held atGerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus ofSouthern Methodist University in theDallasenclave ofUniversity Park, while Amon G. Carter Stadium was undergoing a major renovation. The game returned to Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth in 2012, after construction on that stadium was completed.

Lockheed Martin became the game's sponsor in 2014.^[8] The company has a major presence in theDallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: the company'sLockheed Martin Aeronautics division is based in Fort Worth while itsLockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control division is based in nearbyGrand Prairie. In December 2018, Lockheed Martin extended its sponsorship though 2025.^[9]

The bowl's partnership with theBig 12 Conference ended with the 2005 season. From 2006 to 2009, theMountain West Conference was signed to provide a team to face either a team from thePac-10 orConference USA (C-USA), depending on the year; Pac-10 teams would play in odd number years while C-USA teams would play in even numbered years). As such, the 2006 and 2008 games featured C-USA teamsTulsa andHouston, respectively, whereasCalifornia represented the Pac-10 in 2007. The Pac-10 was unable to send a representative to the game in 2009, so C-USA sent Houston to the game for a second consecutive year. In 2010, since the Mountain West did not have enough eligible teams andArmy was bowl eligible, Army playedSMU in the bowl.

Following the2013 football season, the Armed Forces Bowl signed multi-year agreements with theAmerican Athletic Conference (The American),Big Ten Conference,Big 12 Conference, Mountain West Conference, Army andNavy to set bowl match-ups for the next six seasons (Navy later joined The American, and Army committed to do so beginning with the 2024 football season).^[1]

In December 2020, it was announced that the 2020 game would be played between teams from thePac-12 andSEC, following cancellation of theESPN Events-ownedLas Vegas Bowl (which would have been featuring those tie-ins for the first time) due to complications relating to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[10] However, due to a lack of available teams from the Pac-12,Tulsa of the American Athletic Conference was ultimately selected to faceMississippi State of the SEC.

Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.

Rankings are based on theAP poll prior to the game being played.

Source:^[11]

From inception through the 2022 edition, an MVP was named for each team. Starting with the 2023 game, only a single MVP has been named.

Source:^[12][13][14]

Updated through the January 2026 edition (23 games, 46 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won (9):Boise State,BYU,Cincinnati,Kansas,Louisiana Tech,Mississippi State,Texas State,Tulane,Utah
Lost (11):Baylor,James Madison,Marshall,Middle Tennessee,Missouri,Oklahoma,Pittsburgh,San Diego State,SMU,Southern Miss,TCU

Updated through the January 2026 edition (23 games, 46 total appearances).

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Pac-12 record includes appearances when the conference was known as the Pac-10 (before 2011).
• The WAC no longer sponsors FBS football.
• Independent appearances: Army (2010, 2017, 2018, 2021), BYU (2011), Navy (2013)

Source:^[16][17][18]

The bowl has been televised onESPN since its inception. Radio coverage was initially on ESPN Radio, and is currently carried nationally via Bowl Season Radio.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toArmed Forces Bowl.

• Official website

• Armed Forces Bowl
• College football bowls
• Military competitions in American football
• Recurring sporting events established in 2003

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use American English from December 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from December 2025
• Commons category link is on Wikidata