Comedian Jimmy Kimmel told a new joke on his Wednesday night show:
What’s the only college football postseason bowl game named after a person, rather than a weed eater, cheese snack, or other corporate sponsor?
The answer is the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl, which will be played on December 18 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California
“That’s right,” said Kimmel on ABC. “That’s the name of the bowl game. This is history in the making. A bowl game has never been named after a human before, and Papa John’s doesn’t count. He’s hardly human. “
The former John Hancock Bowl in El Paso doesn’t count either because it was named after an insurance company sponsor, not the leader of the American Revolution. Otherwise, Kimmel is serious: That’s the name of this game, which corresponds to the No. 1 selection of the Mountain West Conference against the No. 5 selection of the Pac-12.
Kimmel and SoFi Stadium announced the deal on Wednesday, saying they had a multi-year partnership to make Kimmel the official naming rights partner of the LA Bowl, a new bowl game that was canceled last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been.
The game will be televised by ABC and will be one of the first of over 40 postseason games slated for 2021-22.
Kimmel said he knew everything about her.
“There are few American traditions more exciting than a college football bowl game – the tradition, the pageantry, and most importantly, the sponsor names,” said Kimmel. “There are so many catchy, colorful names – the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl, the Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl, the LendingTree Bowl, the Cheese-It Bowl. The list goes on and on. And since I was 52, which was last year, I’ve been dreaming that a college football bowl game is named after me. And tonight I am happy to announce that this dream is finally coming true. “
Title sponsorships for smaller bowl games like the LA Bowl can generally be relatively inexpensive because of the amount of advertising they do. For example, in 2018, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, agreed to pay $ 300,000 to refer to the Bahamas Bowl as the “Makers Wanted” Bahamas Bowl. This is the village’s marketing slogan, and the goal was to attract manufacturers to its industrial park at O’Hare International Airport.
Before the game was even played, the Mayor of Elk Grove Village said the sponsorship had already generated millions of dollars in publicity.
The LA Bowl is owned by SoFi Stadium, which is part of the Hollywood Park empire of Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. In a press release, SoFi Stadium stated that Kimmel will be working with bowl game community partners such as Inglewood’s One For All to support youth through social programs.
“Stan Kroenke designed Hollywood Park as a sports and entertainment destination for Angelenos and visitors from around the world,” said Jason Gannon, the game’s executive director, in a statement on Wednesday. “We can’t think of a better way to bring sports and entertainment together than to partner with acclaimed late night host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel on our college bowl game. Not only will Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl give fans an incredible gaming experience, but they will also focus on supporting our community 365 days a year. “
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]
