# LA Bowl

The LA Bowl is an annual NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, first played in December 2021. The bowl has tie-ins with the Mountain West and Pac-12 conferences. The Pac-12 or its "legacy schools" (the 10 schools departing the conference in 2024 for the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC) will continue to fulfill the Pac-12 tie-in obligation through the 2025 season. The LA Bowl is one of three bowl games that have never released payout totals for the teams involved in the game (Myrtle Beach Bowl and the Fenway Bowl are the others).

## History

The Mountain West Conference and Pac-12 Conference announced tie-ins for the new bowl in July 2019, under a five-year agreement. The game was officially unveiled in February 2020. It matches up the Mountain West champion (or the next-highest pick available if the conference champion is selected for the New Year's Six) against the fifth pick from the Pac-12. Previously, the Mountain West champion had received an automatic bid to the Las Vegas Bowl. The game is owned and operated by the owners of SoFi Stadium, StadCo LA, LLC.
Three weeks before the scheduled bowl game debut on December 30, 2020, the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On June 16, 2021, the game was renamed the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl as part of a naming rights agreement with comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Announcing the renaming on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel remarked that it was the first bowl game to be named for a living person. The investment bank Stifel was later added as a presenting sponsor.
On October 21, 2023, the bowl announced that it had signed a new multi-year sponsorship deal with former NFL star Rob Gronkowski. On December 1, 2023, it added a naming rights partnership with Starco Brands, renaming the bowl the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk. In 2024, the sponsorship was moved to Starco's Art of Sport brand, renaming the game the Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk.

## Game results

All rankings are taken from the AP poll prior to the game being played.
| Date | Winning Team | Winning Team | Losing Team | Losing Team | Attendance | Notes |
| December 18, 2021 | Utah State | 24 | Oregon State | 13 | 29,896 | notes |
| December 17, 2022 | Fresno State | 29 | Washington State | 6 | 32,405 | notes |
| December 16, 2023 | UCLA | 35 | Boise State | 22 | 32,780 | notes |
| December 18, 2024 | No. 24 UNLV | 24 | California | 13 | 24,420 | notes |

## MVPs

| Year | Offensive MVP | Offensive MVP | Offensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Ref. |
| Year | Player | Team | Pos. | Player | Team | Pos. | Ref. |
| 2021 | Deven Thompkins | Utah State | WR | Nick Heninger | Utah State | DE | |
| 2022 | Jordan Mims | Fresno State | RB | Devo Bridges | Fresno State | DE | |
| 2023 | Ethan Garbers | UCLA | QB | Darius Muasau | UCLA | LB | |
| 2024 | Jacob De Jesus | UNLV | WR | Jackson Woodard | UNLV | LB | |

## Appearances by team

Updated through the December 2024 edition (4 games, 8 total appearances).

### Teams with a single appearance

Won (4): Fresno State, UCLA, UNLV, Utah State
Lost (4): Boise State, California, Oregon State, Washington State

## Appearances by conference

Updated through the December 2024 edition (4 games, 8 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Record | Record | Record | Appearances by season | Appearances by season |
| Conference | Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost |
| Mountain West | 4 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 2021, 2022, 2024 | 2023 |
| Pac-12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2023 | 2021, 2022 |
| ACC | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | | 2024 |

## Game records

| Team | Performance vs. Opponent | Year |
| Most points scored | 35, UCLA vs. Boise State | 2023 |
| Fewest points allowed | 6, Fresno State vs. Washington State | 2022 |
| Margin of victory | 23, Fresno State vs. Washington State | 2022 |
| First downs | 27, Fresno State vs. Washington State | 2022 |
| Rushing yards | 280, UCLA vs. Boise State | 2023 |
| Passing yards | 280, Fresno State vs. Washington State | 2022 |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 22, Boise State vs. UCLA | 2023 |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 57, UCLA vs. Boise State | 2023 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 182, Fresno State vs. Washington State | 2022 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | 45, Fresno State vs. Washington State | 2022 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 117, Boise State vs. UCLA | 2023 |
| Individual | Player, Team | Year |
| All-Purpose yards | 236, Jordan Mims (Fresno State) | 2022 |
| Points scored | 12, multiple (most recently): TJ Harden (UCLA) Ethan Garbers (UCLA) George Holani (Boise State) | 2023 |
| Passing touchdowns | 2, shared by: Jake Haener (Fresno State) Ethan Garbers (UCLA) Hajj-Malik Williams (UNLV) | 2022 2023 2024 |
| Rushing yards | 209, Jordan Mims (Fresno State) | 2022 |
| Passing yards | 280, Jake Haener (Fresno State) | 2022 |
| Receiving yards | 142, J. Michael Sturdivant (UCLA) | 2023 |
| Receptions | 10, Robert Ferrel (Washington State) | 2022 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 2, shared by: Jordan Mims (Fresno State) George Holani (Boise State) TJ Harden (UCLA) | 2022 2023 2023 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 1, multiple (most recently): Jacob De Jesus (UNLV) Kayden McGee (UNLV) | 2024 |
| Tackles | 13, Marsel McDuffie (UNLV) | 2024 |
| Sacks | 3, Nick Heninger (Utah State) | 2021 |
| Interceptions | 1, shared by: Hunter Reynolds (Utah State) Akili Arnold (Oregon State) Kitan Oladapo (Oregon State) LJ Early (Fresno State) Alex Johnson (UCLA) | 2021 2021 2021 2022 2023 |
| Long Plays | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Touchdown run | 66 yds., George Holani (Boise State) | 2023 |
| Touchdown pass | 62 yds., Cooper Legas to Deven Thompkins (Utah State) | 2021 |
| Kickoff return | 79 yds., Kadarius Calloway (Cal) | 2024 |
| Punt return | 38 yds., Jacob De Jesus (UNLV) | 2024 |
| Interception return | 11 yds., Alex Johnson (UCLA) | 2023 |
| Fumble return | 0 yds., Jett Elad (UNLV) | 2024 |
| Punt | 57 yds., Marshall Nichols (UNLV) | 2024 |
| Field goal | 48 yds., Caden Chittenden (UNLV) | 2024 |

## Media coverage

The bowl has been televised by ABC from its inception to 2021. It will air on ESPN in the 2024 edition.