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Initial college football broadcasts on the Fox network were limited to selected bowl games, beginning with the Cotton Bowl Classic from 1999 to 2014. From 2006 to 2009, Fox broadcast the Bowl Championship Series (excluding games played at the Rose Bowl stadium, whose rights were held by ABC under a separate agreement). Fox also holds rights to the Redbox Bowl and Holiday Bowl.
The Fox network acquired its first college football telecast in 1998, when it obtained the broadcast rights to the annual Cotton Bowl Classic held each January on (eventually, the day after) New Year's Day; the first game to be shown on the network as part of the deal was held on January 1, 1999. Fox renewed its contract to carry the game in 2010, in a four-year agreement that ran through the 2013 NCAA college football season.
Fox lost the rights to the Cotton Bowl to ESPN for the 2015 edition, as the cable network holds the television contract to all six bowl games that encompass the College Football Playoff system under a twelve-year deal worth over $7.3 billion. The Cotton Bowl was the only game among the six that was not already broadcast by ESPN. [1] [2]
| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Sideline reporter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 3, 2014 | Fox | Gus Johnson | Charles Davis | Kristina Pink |
| January 4, 2013 | Julie Alexandria and Petros Papadakis | |||
| January 6, 2012 | Tim Brewster and Daryl Johnston | |||
| January 7, 2011 | Kenny Albert | Daryl Johnston | Charles Davis and John Lynch | |
| January 2, 2010 | Pat Summerall | Krista Voda and Shepard Smith | ||
| January 2, 2009 | Brian Baldinger | Jeanne Zelasko and Krista Voda | ||
| January 1, 2008 | ||||
| January 1, 2007 | Krista Voda | |||
| January 2, 2006 | Thom Brennaman | Terry Donahue | Jeanne Zelasko and Chris Rix | |
| January 1, 2005 | Brian Baldinger | Jeanne Zelasko | ||
| January 2, 2004 | Tim Green and Bill Maas | Brian Baldinger | ||
| January 1, 2003 | Tim Green and Ron Pitts | |||
| January 1, 2002 | Tim Green and Dave Lapham | |||
| January 1, 2001 | ||||
| January 1, 2000 | Mike Doocy | |||
| January 1, 1999 | Joe Buck | Bill Maas | Suzy Kolber and Ron Pitts |
From the 2006 through the 2009 seasons, Fox held the broadcast rights to most of the games comprising the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) – including the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl and the Orange Bowl, as well as the BCS Championship Game. Fox paid close to $20 million per game for the rights to televise the BCS games. [3] The network's contract with the BCS excluded any event in the series that was held at the Rose Bowl stadium, such as the Rose Bowl Game and the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, as ABC already had a separate arrangement with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association to serve as the broadcaster for the games.
ESPN, which is majority owned by ABC's corporate parent The Walt Disney Company and serves as the producer for all of ABC's sports coverage, would displace Fox outright as the broadcaster of the BCS beginning in the 2010–11 season. This left the Fox network with only the Cotton Bowl Classic as the sole college football game, to which it held the television rights until the 2013–14 season.
| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Sideline reporter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 4, 2010 | Fox | Sam Rosen | Tim Ryan | Chris Myers |
| January 5, 2009 | Matt Vasgersian | Chris Myers and Laura Okmin | ||
| January 2, 2008 | Terry Donahue and Pat Haden | Laura Okmin | ||
| January 1, 2007 | Thom Brennaman | Barry Alvarez and Charles Davis | Chris Myers |
| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator | Sideline reporters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 5, 2010 | Fox | Dick Stockton | Charles Davis | Chris Myers and Laura Okmin |
| January 1, 2009 | Thom Brennaman | Chris Myers | ||
| January 3, 2008 | Kenny Albert | Daryl Johnston and Barry Alvarez | Jeanne Zelasko | |
| January 2, 2007 | Matt Vasgersian | Terry Donahue and Pat Haden | Laura Okmin |
| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Sideline reporter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2010 | Fox | Thom Brennaman | Brian Billick | Chris Myers |
| January 2, 2009 | Kenny Albert | Daryl Johnston | Chris Myers and Charissa Thompson | |
| January 1, 2008 | Thom Brennaman | Charles Davis | Chris Myers | |
| January 3, 2007 | Kenny Albert | Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long | Jeanne Zelasko |
| Year | Network(s) | Bowl | Play-by-play announcer | Color analyst(s) | Sideline reporter(s) | Studio host(s) | Studio analyst(s) | TV Rating [4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Fox | 2007 BCS National Championship Game | Thom Brennaman | Barry Alvarez and Charles Davis | Chris Myers | Chris Rose | Emmitt Smith, Eddie George and Jimmy Johnson | 17.4 |
| 2008 | Fox | 2008 BCS National Championship Game | Thom Brennaman | Charles Davis | Chris Myers | Chris Rose | Eddie George, Urban Meyer and Jimmy Johnson | 17.4 |
| 2009 | Fox | 2009 BCS National Championship Game | Thom Brennaman | Charles Davis | Chris Myers | Chris Rose | Eddie George, Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson | 15.8 |
The bowl has been broadcast by Mizlou (1978–1984), Lorimar (1985), ESPN (1986–2016), and Fox Sports 1 (2017–present). [5] [6] On June 15, 2017, it was revealed that the Holiday Bowl had not renewed its contract with ESPN—one of the network's longest relationships—and had entered into an agreement to move to FS1 beginning 2017. [7]
From 2002 through 2015, the bowl was televised by ESPN or ESPN2; since 2016, it has been carried by Fox. [8]
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been played at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Since 2022, it has been sponsored by Vrbo and officially known as the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. Previous sponsors include PlayStation, BattleFrog, Vizio, Tostitos, IBM (1993–1995) and Sunkist (1986–1990).
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only by the Rose Bowl Game.
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The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college football season as one of four designated bowl games, and beginning in the 2006 season as a standalone event rotated among the host sites of the aforementioned bowls.
College football on television includes the broad- and cablecasting of college football games, as well as pre- and post-game reports, analysis, and human-interest stories. Within the United States, the college version of American football annually garners high television ratings.
College Football on CBS Sports is the blanket title used for broadcasts of college football games that are produced by CBS Sports, for CBS and CBS Sports Network.
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When the Bowl Championship Series was formed in 1998, television coverage was consolidated on the ABC Television Network. Beginning with the 2006 season, the Fox Broadcasting Company took over television coverage of the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl games. ABC retained the Rose Bowl game under a separate contract. Radio broadcast coverage has been on ESPN Radio.
College Football on NBC Sports is the de facto title used for broadcasts of NCAA college football games produced by NBC Sports.
The 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game was a college football bowl game to determine the national champion of the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and was played between the Texas Longhorns and the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was hosted by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, January 7, 2010. It was the 12th BCS National Championship Game, and the second consecutive year the champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) was matched against the champion of the Big 12 Conference. Alabama got the win over Texas, 37-21, to complete a perfect 14-0 season and clinch the school's 13th national championship.
In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.
ESPN College Football on ABC is the branding used for broadcasts of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football games that are produced by ESPN, and televised on ABC in the United States. Originally College Football on ABC, the ESPN branding has been used since 2006 when parent company Disney merged the ABC Sports division into ESPN Inc.
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, one of the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind only the Rose Bowl. The Orange Bowl is one of the New Year's Six, the top bowl games for the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.
Fox College Football is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football games produced by Fox Sports, and broadcast primarily by Fox, FS1, and FS2.
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News", it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others. Assets currently include among others Golf Channel and NBC Sports Regional Networks.
The history of the National Football League on television documents the long history of the National Football League on television. The NFL, along with boxing and professional wrestling, was a pioneer of sports broadcasting during a time when baseball and college football were more popular than professional football. Due to the NFL understanding television at an earlier time, they were able to surpass Major League Baseball in the 1960s as the most popular sport in the United States. Today, NFL broadcasting contracts are among the most valuable in the world.
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