College football bowl season never ceases to be interesting, and quirky names and title sponsors have increasingly come to the forefront in recent years.
Among those is the game officially titled the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk, which has now partnered with former NFL star Rob Gronkowski after its previous deal with Jimmy Kimmel expired following the 2022 season.
Here's what you need to know about the bowl game, which will feature UCLA vs. Boise State on Dec. 16, 2023.
MORE: College football bowl picks, predictions for all 41 bowl games
Why is there a Rob Gronkowski bowl?
According to Chris Sloan, the head of global partnerships for SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater and Hollywood Park in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, the move to approach Gronkowski after the expiration of the contract with Kimmel was a "no-brainer."
“We made a two-year deal with Jimmy and he was great, and it was how do we keep the momentum going from that? How do we stick out as the LA Bowl?” Sloan said. “And really we looked across a wide array of opportunities to make that happen and as we kind of got down to it, Gronk just made a ton of sense.
“He’s an exciting guy, a football guy. He’s a Pac-12 former player. He’s looking to do really cool and interesting things with his brand post-retirement. And I would say he’s been nothing but engaged through the process, so we’re super excited to work with him and see where this game goes."
The former 11-year NFL player said he was looking forward to bringing his style of energy to the event.
“There’ll be dancing, there’ll be competitions with the fans, we’ll be creating food and beverage ideas, I’m gonna challenge the mascots to a dance-off as well and also there’s going to be a live performance by me — it may be at the beginning of the game, it may be at halftime, but I’m gonna be doing a live performance myself as well," Gronkowski said.
GAME ON 😤🏈
— Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk (@LABowlGame) December 3, 2023
Boise State and UCLA will meet in the 2023 Starco Brands #LABowl Hosted By Gronk at SoFi Stadium!
🗓️ Saturday, December 16@BroncoSportsFB 🆚 @UCLAFootball
🕟 4:30 PM PST
Tickets, Suites and VIP Packages 🎟️ https://t.co/3WaEIiAWRJ#BleedBlue | #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/gOqAalksjI
LA Bowl history
Obviously, the LA Bowl game has seen multiple different sponsors. It was most recently partnered with Jimmy Kimmel. He originally announced in July of 2021 that he and the LA Bowl had agreed to a naming rights deal.
The two parties entered a "multi-year partnership" for the rights to the bowl game.
It's important to note this was an existing bowl game before Kimmel took over the naming rights, but it had never been played before 2021. It was set to make its debut in 2020, but it was canceled in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021's matchup -- the inaugural one in which the Mountain West and the Pac-12 conferences participated -- Utah State defeated Oregon State, 24-13 on Dec. 18, 2021.
Where is the LA Bowl played?
The LA Bowl is still set to be played in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
The same stadium, which opened in 2020, is also the NFL home of the Rams and the Chargers. The NFL announced this week the stadium will host Super Bowl 61 in 2027.
