Florida Bowl Game With ACC Tie Gets New Name: Reaction
Orlando’s Camping World Stadium may still be hosting a bowl game, but it’s no longer the Camping World Bowl. If that sentence doesn’t sum up bowl sponsorship deals, I don’t know what does. In its place? Say cheese. That bowl will, for the foreseeable future, be known as the Cheez-It Bowl.
Bowl sponsorships aren’t going anywhere— and primary sponsors are always going to want titular representation. And that’s fine, as I think we got used to it a long time ago. But at least the bowls kept their original name, the base identifier that remained constant while sponsors came and went. Like the old Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl. It was still the Fiesta Bowl, it just had another name out in front— and the partnership even made sense.
Like Tostito’s, Cheez-It does make sense as a sponsor from a fans’ point of view. They’re a snack readily available on many coffee tables in fan caves across the country. I mean these companies are obviously free to spend their money how they see fit, but it’s kinda nice when there is a little bit of a tie-in to either the game or the fan experience like those examples.
Along those lines, maybe some day one of the early games, most appropriately on New Year’s Day, will become the Tito’s Bloody Mary Bowl. It could feature a mascot race between a celery stalk, a pickle, and a bottle of Worcestershire sauce.
Here’s a portion of the official press release:
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. and ORLANDO, Fla., May 27, 2020 – Cheez-It®, the official snack of bowl season, announced it is moving east to become title sponsor of the Cheez-It® Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The move kicks off a multi-year agreement between Florida Citrus Sports (FCS) and Cheez-It, brokered by Denver-based Impression Sports & Entertainment.
The game, most recently known as the Camping World Bowl, will continue to feature top teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference or Notre Dame and the Big 12 Conference in late December each year. The Cheez-It Bowl airs on ESPN.
In its third season as an NCAA college football bowl game sponsor and official sponsor of the College Football Playoff, Cheez-It is underscoring its commitment to the sport and its fan base. Coined the “cheesiest bowl game in history” (in the best way possible), the original Cheez-It Bowl premiered in 2018 with the Fiesta Bowl Organization in Phoenix. The brand’s move to Orlando means Cheez-It will entitle one of just three games regularly featuring top picks from Power 5 conferences (outside of the New Year's Six bowls).
