The college football bowl landscape is heating up as two iconic San Diego bowl games—the Holiday Bowl and the newly revived Poinsettia Bowl—search for a new media partner. With Fox Sports potentially stepping back after a long run, all eyes are on The CW to step into the spotlight.
Late last month, college football insider Brett McMurphy of On3 dropped a bombshell: Fox Sports, which has aired the Holiday Bowl since 2017, wouldn't be bidding on this year's game. Even ESPN, the longtime home of the Holiday Bowl from 1986 to 2016 and the go-to network for most bowl games, has reportedly passed on the opportunity. That leaves the door wide open for a new player to enter the game.
Enter The CW. According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, the network has emerged as a serious contender for both bowl games. But don't count Fox out just yet—sources say the network hasn't completely closed the door on the Holiday Bowl, especially if the financial terms align.
"We have not had one group say they were not willing to take the call," Tag Garson of Excelsior Sports and Entertainment, who is leading the media rights search for Sports San Diego, told SBJ. "When Fox passed on our final offer, it allowed us to go into the marketplace, and we have been talking to everyone. We're not leaving any stone unturned." Garson added that the process is still in its early stages, noting, "We've only been in the marketplace for a couple of weeks, so this is very new."
The CW is no stranger to college football. The network already holds rights to the Arizona Bowl, along with regular-season games from the ACC, Mountain West, and Pac-12. "Based on the success of the bowl season last year and the Arizona Bowl, we're taking a look to add to those to potentially add to our college landscape," CW SVP of Sports Mike Perman told Front Office Sports last March.
Meanwhile, Karp reports that there's no bad blood between Fox and the bowl games. Insiders suggest Fox could still submit a bid for the Holiday Bowl "under the right financial circumstances." For fans, this means the competition for these bowl games is far from over—and the result could reshape how we watch college football this postseason.