The 2020 Holiday Bowl was canceled Thursday. Organizers said the COVID-19 pandemic was the reason.
Current plans are to resume playing in 2021.
We will see you in 2021, #SanDiego pic.twitter.com/PuHkUdvR85
— SDCCU Holiday Bowl (@HolidayBowl) October 22, 2020
The decision helped bowl officials avoid questions about where the late December game would be held.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported in September that the 2020 game would be played in San Diego but not at its traditional site, SDCCU Stadium (formerly Qualcomm Stadium, Jack Murphy Stadium and San Diego Stadium). The 53-year-old stadium is being torn down. The most likely alternative, according to the U-T, was San Diego University's home field, Torrero Stadium.
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Petco Park, home of MLB's Padres, could not host a game this year because there isn't enough room to fit a football field, according to the U-T report.
San Diego State, which played its home games at SDCCU Stadium for decades, is planning to play its 2020 home games at Dignity Health Park in Carson, more than 100 miles north of San Diego. The Chargers played in Carson for three seasons between their exit from San Diego and the opening this year of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
The 2020 Holiday Bowl was originally was scheduled to pit teams from the Pac-12 and ACC. The Pac-12 said in a statement that it shared the Holiday Bowl organizers' "disappointment" that the 2020 game would not be played.
