Fox college bowl game broadcasts

Coverage history

Fox acquired its first college football telecast in 1998, obtaining broadcast rights to the annual Cotton Bowl Classic held each January on New Year's Day; the first game aired on January 1, 1999. Fox renewed its contract in 2010 for four years through the 2013 season. Fox lost the Cotton Bowl rights to ESPN for the 2015 edition, as ESPN holds the television contract for all six College Football Playoff bowl games under a twelve-year deal worth over $7.3 billion; the Cotton Bowl was the only one of those six not previously broadcast by ESPN. From the 2006 through 2009 seasons, Fox held broadcast rights to most Bowl Championship Series games, including the Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and the BCS Championship Game, paying close to $20 million per game. The contract excluded any BCS event held at the Rose Bowl stadium, such as the Rose Bowl Game and the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, because ABC had a separate arrangement with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. ESPN displaced Fox as BCS broadcaster beginning in the 2010–11 season, leaving Fox with only the Cotton Bowl Classic through the 2013–14 season. The Holiday Bowl was broadcast by Mizlou (1978–1984), Lorimar (1985), ESPN (1986–2016), and Fox Sports 1 (2017–2019); on June 15, 2017, it was revealed the Holiday Bowl had moved to FS1. The Redbox Bowl was televised by ESPN or ESPN2 from 2002 through 2015, and by Fox since 2016.