Arizona Bowl cancellation leaves local officials frustrated; 2022 game already on their minds

Soon after, they began to deal with the fallout.

For the first time since its inception in 2015, the Arizona Bowl would go dark. Even last year — when the pandemic seemed to be at its peak and COVID ravaged one of the participants — the game kicked off on schedule. Fans weren’t allowed inside Arizona Stadium, but the contest was televised to a national audience on CBS.

Eighteen college football bowl games were canceled last season because of COVID. The Arizona Bowl was one of the lucky ones. This time it couldn’t escape that fate, becoming the fourth game in the 2021-22 cycle to be nixed. (The Holiday Bowl, scheduled for Tuesday evening in San Diego, became No. 5.)

“The Arizona Bowl has always stood on three pillars: Giving all net proceeds to charity, shining a huge spotlight on Tucson and Southern Arizona, and creating significant economic impact,” said Ali Farhang, chairman of the Arizona Bowl board of directors. “The cancellation of the game is a blow to all three.”

Despite the likelihood of rain Friday, Arizona Bowl officials had mammoth expectations for this year’s game.

The Arizona Bowl is in the first year of a three-year sponsorship deal with Barstool Sports, a controversial but popular multimedia outlet that also was set to stream the game. Scott Stapp, lead singer of Creed, was scheduled to perform at halftime. Ticket sales — which, along with concessions, provide the bulk of the bowl game’s charitable contributions — were up, officials told the Star.