Birmingham Bowl
Stadium	Protective Stadium
Location	Birmingham, Alabama
Previous stadiums	Legion Field (2006–2020)
Operated	2006–present
Conference tie-ins	The American,SEC Alternates:C-USA,MAC
Payout	US$1,374,545 (2019 season)[1]
Website	birminghambowl.com
Sponsors
Papa John's (2006–2010) BBVA Compass (2011–2014) Sterling Jewelers (2018) TicketSmarter (2019–2022) 76 (2023)
Former names
Birmingham Bowl (2006, working title) PapaJohns.com Bowl (2006–2010) BBVA Compass Bowl (2011–2014) Birmingham Bowl (2015–2017) Jared Birmingham Bowl (2018) TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl (2019–2022) 76 Birmingham Bowl (2023)
2023 matchup
Troy vs.Duke (Duke 17–10)
2024 matchup
Georgia Tech vs.Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt 35–27)

TheBirmingham Bowl is a post-seasonNCAA-sanctionedDivision I FBScollege footballbowl game played annually inBirmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated byESPN Events.^[2] TheUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) also provides marketing, management and game-day operations support. The game was previously known as thePapaJohns.com Bowl (2006–2010) and theBBVA Compass Bowl (2011–2014). From its inception through 2020, the game was played atLegion Field; since the December 2021 game, it has been held atProtective Stadium.

The bowl marked the return of post-season football to the city of Birmingham, which previously hosted theDixie Bowl from 1947 to 1948, theHall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985 (which relocated toTampa and became theOutback Bowl), and theAll-American Bowl from 1986 to 1990 (which was canceled when theSEC Championship Game was awarded to the city).

In the inaugural edition of the bowl, played on December 23, 2006, theSouth Florida Bulls defeated theEast Carolina Pirates, 24–7, in front of a crowd of 32,023.^[3]Running back Benjamin Williams of South Florida scored the bowl's first points on a 16-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game; he added a second touchdown during the first quarter and was named the game's MVP.

After being held in December for its first three years, the fourth edition of the bowl was played in January 2010. As a result, there was no game during the 2009 calendar year. The bowl was subsequently played in January through its ninth edition, held in January 2015. The tenth edition of the bowl saw a return to December, resulting in two editions of the bowl being played during calendar year 2015. The bowl remained in December through its 13th edition, held in December 2018. The 14th edition of the bowl was held in January 2020, thus there was no game during calendar year 2019.

The January 2021 edition of the bowl was cancelled due to an insufficient number of teams being available to fill all2020–21 bowl games, following a season impacted by theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

The bowl was originally played atLegion Field, located west of central Birmingham. With construction of a new football stadium on the grounds of theBirmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex closer to central Birmingham, the bowl was expected to move there.^[5] Since the December 2021 edition, the bowl has been played atProtective Stadium.^[6]

The bowl originally had a four-year agreement withConference USA (C-USA) to match a representative of that conference against an opponent from theBig East Conference, but the bowl's officials later appealed to the NCAA for a recertification which was granted in late April 2008. In 2008 and 2009, the bowl featured the ninth bowl-eligible team of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) and a team from the Big East Conference.^[7]

The game currently features teams from the SEC and theAmerican Athletic Conference (The American). Should either of these conferences not fulfill their bowl commitments, a team from C-USA or theMid-American Conference (MAC) will take their place, provided it isbowl eligible.^[8] Otherwise, the game will choose an at-large team. This happened in 2008, when the SEC was unable to send a team; the bowl selectedNorth Carolina State of theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to faceRutgers from the Big East, even though the bowl had an arrangement with theSun Belt Conference at the time, and that conference had at least one bowl-eligible team it could send. This occurred again in 2022 when the bid was brought down to the Sun Belt Conference.

From 2006 through 2010, the game was the PapaJohns.com Bowl, named afterPapa John's Pizza, who became the title sponsor signing a multi-year agreement in November 2006.^[9] On August 6, 2010, Papa John's announced it would not renew its sponsorship, after having secured a sponsorship deal with theNational Football League.^[10]

The game was temporarily renamed the Birmingham Bowl untilBBVACompass was announced as its title sponsor on November 4, 2010, officially changing its name to the BBVA Compass Bowl.^[10][11] The bowl was sponsored by BBVA through the January 2014 game, following which BBVA Compass declined to renew its sponsorship,^[12] and the game was subsequently renamed the Birmingham Bowl.

The 2018 edition was sponsored by the Jared brand ofSterling Jewelers,^[13] and the 2019–2022 editions were sponsored by TicketSmarter.^[14]

On November 30, 2023, the76 chain of gas stations was announced as the new title sponsor of the game.^[15] This arrangement was in place for just one edition of the game.

Rankings are from theAP Poll from before the game was played.

Source:^[16]

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

Updated through the December 2024 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won (7):Duke,Florida,Ole Miss,Rutgers,SMU,UConn,Wake Forest
Lost (8):Boston College,Coastal Carolina,Georgia Tech,Kentucky,NC State,Southern Miss,Texas Tech,Troy

Updated through the December 2024 edition (18 games, 36 total appearances).

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Record for The American includes appearances of theBig East Conference, as The American retains the charter of the original Big East, following its2013 realignment. Teams representing the Big East appeared in seven games, compiling a 5–2 record.

Source:^[19]

Except for the first two editions of the bowl, which were televised onESPN2, the bowl has been televised onESPN.^[20]

• Official site

• Birmingham Bowl
• American football competitions in Birmingham, Alabama
• Recurring sporting events established in 2006
• College football bowls in Alabama
• 21st century in Birmingham, Alabama

• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use American English from September 2019
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from September 2019