- Cricket Celebration Bowl Kicks Off Bowl Season on Saturday, Dec. 14
- ESPN Events’ 2024 Schedule will Feature 10 FBS and 2 FCS Conferences and Four Early-Season Kickoff Games
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, has unveiled its schedule of 17 owned and operated bowl games for the 2024-25 college football postseason, which will feature 10 FBS conferences and two FCS conferences.
Bowl Season will begin Saturday, Dec. 14, with ESPN Events’ Cricket Celebration Bowl (noon ET, ABC) as the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) face off in the National Championship for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Later that evening, following the 90th presentation of the Heisman Trophy Ceremony (8 p.m., ESPN), the Camellia Bowl (9 p.m., ESPN) returns to primetime with a matchup traditionally showcasing teams from the Sun Belt Conference and Mid-American Conference.
On December 20, the StaffDNA Cure Bowl (Noon, ESPN) celebrates 10 years and returns back to Camping World Stadium in downtown Orlando, where participating teams will be from the American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt, Mid-American Conference or Conference USA.
The Hawai’i Bowl (8 p.m., ESPN) – featuring teams from the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA – returns to its traditional Christmas Eve slot this year on December 24. The Ching Athletics Complex on the University of Hawai’i Mānoa campuswill host for the third-consecutive year, while the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District is being completed.
For the first time in its 19-year history, the Isleta New Mexico Bowl (2:15 p.m., ESPN) will be played post-Christmas on December 28 from University Stadium on the campus of the University of New Mexico. The game, which had previously been played on the opening Saturday of Bowl Season for 17 of the last 18 years, will feature a team from the Mountain West Conference against a team from either Conference USA, American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt Conference or the Mid-American Conference.
The Texas Bowl (3:30 p.m., ESPN) will be contested on New Year’s Eve for the first time since 2011, featuring teams from the Big 12 and SEC Conferences at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. This year’s game will lead into the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
The ESPN Events bowl schedule will conclude Saturday, Jan. 4, with the ninth edition of the Bahamas Bowl (11 a.m., ESPN2) – the longest-running international bowl game in college football history – returning to the newly renovated Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau after a one-year absence. The Bahamas Bowl traditionally showcases teams from Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference, and this year’s game will mark the first time it’s played in January.
ESPN Events Kickoff Games
Last week, ESPN announced its early-season schedule, which included four ESPN Events kickoff games, highlighted by the Vegas Kickoff Classic, one of the most anticipated matchups of the entire college football season. Tradition-rich programs USC and LSU will play at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in Week 1 on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
The ESPN Events schedule will also feature the FCS Kickoff – North Alabama vs. Southeast Missouri State in ESPN’s first primetime college football telecast of the ‘24 season – from Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m. That same night, the Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff takes center stage in Atlanta as Florida A&M faces Norfolk State in primetime on ABC (7:30 p.m.) for the second straight year. The MEAC/SWAC Challenge and ESPN Events’ Red Tails Classic – Tuskegee vs. Johnson C. Smith (Sunday, Sept. 1 on ESPNU) – will celebrate the tradition, legacy and values of HBCUs and be part of ESPN’s season-long commitment to HBCU football.
ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of collegiate sporting events nationwide. In 2024, the 34-event schedule includes four early-season college football kickoff games, 17 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events, the premiere regular season college softball and gymnastics events, as well as the Band of the Year National Championship. Collectively, these events account for over 400 hours of live programming on ESPN platforms, reaching 60 million viewers and attracting more than 650,000 annual attendees. Each year, the portfolio of events features more than 20 Division I conferences and hosts over 4,000 participating student-athletes. With satellite offices in more than 10 cities across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.
2024 ESPN Events College Football Bowl Schedule:
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup | Network |
| Sat, Dec 14 | Noon | Cricket Celebration Bowl Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Ga.) | ABC |
| 9 p.m. | Camellia Bowl Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.) | ESPN | |
| Tue, Dec 17 | 5:30 p.m. | Boca Raton Bowl FAU Stadium (Boca Raton, Fla.) | ESPN |
| 9 p.m. | Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl Toyota Stadium (Frisco, Texas) | ESPN | |
| Fri, Dec 20 | Noon | StaffDNA Cure Bowl Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Fla.) | ESPN |
| 3:30 p.m. | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Fla.) | ESPN | |
| Mon, Dec 23 | 11 a.m. | Myrtle Beach Bowl Brooks Stadium (Conway, S.C.) | ESPN |
| 2:30 p.m. | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Albertsons Stadium (Boise, Idaho) | ESPN | |
| Tue, Dec 24 | 8 p.m. | Hawai’i Bowl Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex (Honolulu, Hawaii) | ESPN |
| Fri, Dec 27 | Noon or 3:30 p.m. | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas) | ESPN |
| Noon or 3:30 p.m. | Birmingham Bowl Protective Stadium (Birmingham, Ala.) | ESPN | |
| 10:30 p.m. | SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas, Nev.) | ESPN | |
| Sat, Dec 28 | 11 a.m. | Wasabi Fenway Bowl Fenway Park (Boston, Mass.) | ESPN |
| 2:15 p.m. | Isleta New Mexico Bowl University Stadium (Albuquerque, N.M.) | ESPN | |
| Tue, Dec 31 | 3:30 p.m. | Texas Bowl NRG Stadium (Houston, Texas) | ESPN |
| Fri, Jan 3 | 4 p.m. | SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Gerald J. Ford Stadium (Dallas, Texas) | ESPN |
| Sat, Jan 4 | 11 a.m. | Bahamas Bowl Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium (Nassau, Bahamas) | ESPN2 |
2024 ESPN Events College Football Kickoff Games:
| Sat, Aug 24 | 7 p.m. | FCS Kickoff Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.) | ESPN |
| 7:30 p.m. | Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff Center Parc Stadium (Atlanta) | ABC | |
| Sun, Sep 1 | 7 p.m. | Red Tails Classic Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.) | ESPNU |
| 7:30 p.m. | Vegas Kickoff Classic Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas, Nev.) USC vs. LSU | ABC |
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Media Contacts:
Danny Chi at 213-405-4400 or [emailprotected]
Andrea DiCristoforo at 213-405-4612 or [emailprotected]
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