LA Bowl put Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Kimmel in its name but didn’t charge for it. Here’s why.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel once made a joke that he was the first human in history to have a postseason bowl game named after him in major college football.

He was technically correct: The old John Hancock Bowl in El Paso was named after an insurance company, not the guy with the large signature on the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

But the “Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl” in Los Angeles County was also quite different for another reason:

Kimmel didn’t pay the game money to put his name on it, unlike all of those other bowl games named after companies or products, including the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando and the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl in Texas.

The same goes for former NFL star Rob Gronkowski, who recently replaced Kimmel as host of the same game, now called the “Starco Brands LA Bowl hosted by Gronk” set for Saturday night on ABC.

Gronk’s name is in the game’s title, but he didn’t pay for it, either, as confirmed by LA Bowl game officials.

Rob Gronkowski is providing star power for Saturday’s LA Bowl, officially called the “Starco Brands LA Bowl hosted by Gronk.”

How could that be when bowl naming rights are so valuable?

The reason for this is a unique reverse-naming-rights deal of sorts, where the name of this game is marketing and trying to stand out in a postseason filled with 42 major-college postseason games starting Saturday. Putting celebrity names in the game’s title helps the LA Bowl do that and more, especially in the entertainment capital of the world, where a game between UCLA (7-5) and Boise State (8-5) might not move the needle much otherwise.

“Since most bowl games have evolved into media and sponsor creations rather than always being based on athletic prowess, I’d expect to see more of this type of non-traditional alliance down the road,” said David Carter, sports business professor at…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/la-bowl-put-rob-gronkowski-114430720.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-15 11:44:30

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.