Location Tampa, Florida Conference tie-ins Big Ten, SEC | Operated 1986–present Stadium Raymond James Stadium | |
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Previous stadiums Tampa Stadium (1986–1998) Payout US$3,500,000 (as of 2015) Instances 2016 Outback Bowl, 2015 Outback Bowl, 2013 Outback Bowl, 2012 Outback Bowl, 2011 Outback Bowl | ||
The Outback Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Years Day. The event was originally called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1994 until being renamed in 1995 for its new title sponsor, Outback Steakhouse. It is organized by the Tampa Bay Bowl Association under Jim McVay, who has been the president/CEO since 1988.
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Cigar Bowl
The Outback Bowl was not Tampa's first bowl game; the Cigar Bowl was played at old Phillips Field near downtown from 1947 to 1954. However, the earlier event matched small college teams, so the Outback / Hall of Fame Bowl is the first major bowl game to be played in the area.
Hall of Fame Bowl
The Hall of Fame Classic was held at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977–1985. In the spring of 1986, the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame decided to discontinue their association with the bowl and realign with a new bowl game to be played in Tampa Stadium which would inherit the Hall of Fame Bowl name. Initially, the Hall of Fame Bowl did not have agreements with any conferences, so it usually matched a school from either the Southeastern Conference or the Atlantic Coast Conference against a team from another region of the country.
Outback Bowl
Outback Steakhouse became the game's title sponsor in 1995. At the same time, the newly renamed Outback Bowl signed agreements with the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conference, creating an annual inter-sectional matchup that has continued ever since.
In 1999, the Outback Bowl moved from Tampa Stadium into Raymond James Stadium, which had recently been built adjacent to the old stadium.
The game
The Outback Bowl is played on New Year's Day unless January 1 falls on a Sunday, in which case it is moved to the following Monday. It is usually the first game to start on a day which is traditionally full of college bowl games, and has kicked off as early as 11AM. ESPN has had television rights to the game since 1993. Under an extension of those rights signed in 2010, ESPN broadcasts the game on either ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2, in conjunction with the Citrus Bowl and the Gator Bowl. Before 1993, the Hall of Fame Bowl aired on NBC.
Upon signing agreements with the SEC and Big 10 in 1995, the Outback Bowl had the third pick of teams from each conference after the Bowl Championship Series teams were placed. Since 2014, both the SEC and Big 10 have worked with a group of several bowl games (including the Outback Bowl) to place their bowl-eligible teams after the College Football Playoff and associated bowls have made their selections.
As of 2017, the Outback Bowl payout was $3.5 million for each team.