The new home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, SoFi Stadium, announced they will begin hosting a new college football bowl game, the LA Bowl. In yet another exciting piece of news surrounding SoFi Stadium, LA’s premier venue continues to gain momentum and publicity before its opening.
The LA Bowl will feature the No. 1 ranked team from the Mountain West Conference facing off against the Pac-12 Division’s No. 5 team. The first game in the Bowl Series will take place this December.
SoFi Stadium Managing Director Jason Gannon is hoping to bring some new light to Los Angeles as a city:
“Similar to SoFi Stadium, the LA Bowl game is designed to deliver an authentic Southern California experience,” said Jason Gannon, managing director, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park. “In addition, our bowl game events throughout the week will embrace Los Angeles as the entertainment capital of the world.”
Of course, not only will the city and stadium benefit from a new bowl game, but the NCAA will as well. Specifically, both conferences should be getting some much needed attention when most fans focus on the classic southern bowl games.
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott is certainly excited by the idea of another Pac-12 bowl game:
“We are thrilled to partner with LA Bowl and bring a Pac-12 presence to the new state-of-the-art facility at SoFi Stadium, in one of the biggest markets right in our footprint,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “The entertainment presence of the new facility will provide great experiences for our student-athletes and fans as the Pac-12 continues its postseason matchup with the Mountain West.”
As Scott mentioned, the Pac-12 and Mountain West divisions often match up in bowl season. They historically have faced off in the Las Vegas Bowl, but will transition from that to the LA Bowl.
The conferences also matched up last year in the Cheez-It Bowl, where Air Force of the Mountain West Conference and Washington State of the Pac-12 Division faced off. As of right now, the LA Bowl remains unsponsored. Officials have stated that if the LA Bowl is to take on a sponsor though, the game will be billed as “LA Bowl presented by …”.
Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson also expressed his delight over the new bowl game:
“The Mountain West is delighted to partner with the Pac-12 Conference and the outstanding management team assembled at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park to launch this exciting new bowl game,” said MW Commissioner Craig Thompson. “Los Angeles is a tremendous market firmly within our footprint that is home to a large number of our member institutions’ alumni and the area from which many of our student-athletes are recruited. This will be a top-flight postseason destination for the No. 1 selection from our Conference.”
SoFi Stadium will have a number of big events in the coming 13 months, as not only will it host the LA Bowl, but also will be hosting Wrestlemania, future college football national championship games, Super Bowls and the 2028 Olympic Games.
