Bowl games draw 1.5 million fans, down slightly from '22, '23

The 2024-25 bowl season is projected to generate approximately 1.5 million fans, down more than 11% from what the games drew annually 2006-19, according to an SBJ analysis of attendance data. The non-playoff games drew 1.05 million fans, down 0.4% from the average of the previous two years.

ReliaQuest, Lockheed Martin, Wasabi and Snoop Dogg are among the biggest bowl season winners as each of their respective title-sponsored games saw an increase of more than 11,000 fans compared to the past two years. ReliaQuest, in its third year as the title sponsor after replacing longtime sponsor Outback, saw Michigan beat Alabama in front of 51,439 fans. That was nearly 18,000 better than the average of the 2022 and 2023 games at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium.  Two other bowls saw increases of more than 12,000 fans compared to the average of the previous two games: Defense contractor Lockheed Martin has title sponsored the Armed Forces Bowl (a Navy-Oklahoma matchup) since 2014 and re-upped the night before the game through 2031; and cloud storage company Wasabi (UConn-North Carolina at Fenway Park). 

The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin and Juice by Dre and Snoop in Tucson area drew a game-record crowd of 40,076, which gave the entertainers the chance to promote the release of their second spirit after the debut of their successful canned gin and juice cocktails in early 2024.