The San Francisco Bowl Game Association, organizers of the 13-year old college football bowl game to be played for the first time at Levi’s Stadium this December, announced that Foster Farms will be the game’s new title sponsor. The game will henceforth be known as the Foster Farms Bowl.

The 2014 Foster Farms Bowl will kick off on Tuesday, December 30 at 7:00 p.m. (PST) and feature teams from two of America’s premier conferences, the Pac-12 and Big Ten. The game will be carried nationally in prime time by ESPN.

“We’re very proud and excited to partner with Foster Farms as the new title sponsor of our bowl game,” said Gary Cavalli, the game’s co-founder and executive director. “Foster Farms is a highly-respected, 75-year old, Northern California-based company. They are the perfect naming rights partner for us as we move into a new era at Levi’s® Stadium with an iconic matchup of Pac-12 vs. Big Ten. We look forward to working together with Foster Farms and the San Francisco 49ers to continue to grow the game.”

Foster Farms has been a family-owned-and-operated company for four generations. Since its founding in 1939, Foster Farms has been committed to providing consumers with the highest-quality, best-tasting poultry products available.

“There is nothing better than chicken and football,” said Bryan Reese, Foster Farms senior vice president of marketing, sales and R&D.  “As a longtime Northern California company with roots that date back more than 75 years, Foster Farms is thrilled to sponsor the first college bowl game to be hosted at the state-of-the-art Levi’s Stadium – the new home of the San Francisco 49ers. The Foster Farms Bowl will bring together some of the nation’s fiercest competitors from two of the country’s premier conferences, the Pac-12 and the Big Ten, in the ultimate bowl game showdown. We look forward to sharing this new Bowl experience with fans at home and in the stadium alike.”

The multiyear agreement with Foster Farms was facilitated by the San Francisco 49ers corporate sponsorship team at the Forty Niners Stadium Management Company and the Bowl. The SFBGA agreed in November of 2012 to move the game to Levi’s Stadium, which was under construction at the time. As part of that agreement, the Bowl and the 49ers worked in conjunction in the search for a new title sponsor.

“The relationship with the San Francisco Bowl Game Association has really developed into something special in a short amount of time and we couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Foster Farms as the game’s title sponsor,” said 49ers COO Al Guido. “As the first third-party event secured for Levi’s Stadium, this game will always hold a significant place in the history of this stadium and we look forward to getting the series started in its new home on December 30^th.”

Since its inception in 2002, the Bowl game has become an annual fixture on the Bay Area’s sporting landscape. The contest was co-founded by Cavalli, the only Executive Director in the game’s 13-year history; along with then San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau President John Marks; and Pat Gallagher, longtime San Francisco Giants executive who is now Executive Vice President, SF Super Bowl 50 Host Committee. Super Bowl 50 will be played at Levi’s Stadium in February 2016.  

The previous 12 games were all played at AT&T Park, home of the three-time World Series champion Giants. Previous matchups have brought many of college football’s stellar programs to the area. Five teams that have won national championships have played in the game—USC, Florida State, Miami [FL], Washington and BYU.

Other high-profile institutions to have participated include UCLA, Cal, Arizona State, Navy, Virginia Tech and Boston College, among others.

The Bowl and the Pac-12 initially aligned in 2006, when UCLA played Florida State in the first-ever pairing of two storied programs. The Pac-12 has been represented in every subsequent year save for 2010. Illinois (2011) is the only Big Ten team to have participated in the Bowl to date. The new Pac-12 vs. Big Ten matchup will extend through 2019.

The game was originally known as the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl (2002-2003), the Emerald Bowl (2004-2009), the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (2010-2012) and the Fight Hunger Bowl (2013).

“Even though the game will no longer be called the ‘Fight Hunger Bowl,’ we will continue our initiatives to fight hunger in the Bay Area,” Cavalli said. “Every ticket sold to the game is a ‘meal ticket’ for a hungry family in the Bay Area, generating donations to our partner organizations—Glide, St. Anthony’s, SF-Marin Food Bank, Alameda County Community Food Bank, and Second Harvest Food Bank.

Source: Foster Farms