What is the First Responder Bowl in college football? Date, venue, history and more explored

The First Responder Bowl is one of the 43 bowl games that take place in college football in the post-season. Last season, Memphis and Utah battled it out in this bowl game, where the Grizzlies emerged victorious with a 38-10 final score.

The participants in this year's First Responder Bowl are the Rice Owls and the Texas State Bobcats. Let us have a look at the history of this bowl game.

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What is the First Responder Bowl in college football?

The First Responder Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Dallas, Texas. The inaugural game was held in 2011, and it has been hosted in late December since 2014.

It was previously hosted at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas until 2018. The 2019 bowl game was played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium because the 2020 NHL Winter Classic was being held there, and it has since become its permanent home.

TicketCity, an American ticket broker and marketplace, became the bowl's first sponsor in 2011 and renamed it the TicketCity Bowl. PlainsCaptial Bank took over as sponsor for the 2013 season. Then, from 2014 to 2017, American fast-food chain Zaxby took over as the sponsor before Servpro took over in 2018. After Servpro's acquisition as a sponsor, the bowl game went on to be known as the First Responder Bowl.

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Who plays in the First Responder Bowl?

For the first four bowl games, the Big Ten had a contract to send a team every season in alternating appearances from the Big 12 in the even seasons and the C-USA in the odd seasons.

Then in 2019, the Big 12 renewed its alternating contract through the 2025 season. The ACC also signed a partial tie-in from the 2020 season to send a team to either this bow, the Gasparilla Bowl, or the Birmingham Bowl.

Since then, the bowl game has tie-ins with the Big 12, the ACC, and the C-USA. Apart from this, they also have the AAC conference as an alternate option for the bowl games.

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When is the First Responder Bowl in 2023?

The 2023 Bowl game is scheduled to be played on December 26 at 5:30 p.m. ET. This season, the Rice Owls will face the Texas State Bobcats in this bowl game. Fans can catch all the action of the game on the ESPN Network on television.