Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes - Benz Superdome in New Orleans , Louisiana . The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1 , 1935 , and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2 , 2009 . The Sugar Bowl , along with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl , are the second - oldest bowl games in the country , behind the Rose Bowl . The Sugar Bowl is also a member of the Bowl Championship Series . Presently , its official title is the Allstate Sugar Bowl after its current sponsor . The Sugar Bowl has had a longstanding - - albeit not exclusive - - relationship with the Southeastern Conference . From 1950 — 1995 , only once did the Sugar Bowl " not " feature an SEC team . That relationship has been altered over the past twenty years due to conference realignments and the emergence of a series of coalitions and alliances intending to produce an undisputed national champion in college football , but the ties between the Sugar Bowl and the SEC have persisted and have recently been strengthened . Starting in January 2015 , the Sugar Bowl game will feature the SEC and Big 12 conference champions ( unless they are involved in the national championship game ) , an arrangement nearly identical with the relationship between the Rose Bowl and the champions of the Big Ten and Pac - 12 . As a member of the Bowl Championship Series , the Sugar Bowl hosted the BCS National Championship Game twice ( 2000 and 2004 ) . However , since the 2006 season , the BCS National Championship Game has been a stand - alone event , following one week after the New Year ' s Day bowl games . This means that , under the current BCS format , no traditional bowl game hosts the BCS National Championship Game , but that game " is " played at the " venue " of one of those traditional major bowls , rotating amongst the four sites , including the Superdome . The payout for the 2006 game was $ 14 – 17 million per participating team . According to " Sports Illustrated " , the 2007 salary for Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan was $ 607 , 500 . History . In 1890 , Pasadena , California held its first Tournament of Roses Parade to showcase the city ' s mild weather compared to the harsh winters in northern cities . As one of the organizers said : " In New York , people are buried in snow . Here , our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear . Let ' s hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise . " In 1902 , the annual festival was enhanced by adding a football game . In 1926 , leaders in Miami , Florida decided to do the same with a " Fiesta of the American Tropics " that was centered around a New Year ' s Day football game . Although a second " Fiesta " was never held , Miami leaders later revived the idea with the " Palm Festival " ( with the slogan " Have a Green Christmas in Miami " ) . The football game and associated festivities of the Palm Festival were soon named the " Orange Bowl . " In New Orleans , Louisiana , the idea of a New Year ' s Day football game was first presented in 1927 by Colonel James M . Thomson , publisher of the " New Orleans Item " , and Sports Editor Fred Digby . Every year thereafter , Digby repeated called for action , and even came up with the name " Sugar Bowl " for his proposed football game . By 1935 , enough support had been garnered for the first Sugar Bowl . The game was played in Tulane Stadium , which had been built in 1926 on Tulane University ' s campus ( before 1871 , Tulane ' s campus was Paul Foucher ' s Plantation , where Foucher ' s father - in - law , Etienne de Bore , had first granulated sugar from cane syrup ) . Warren V . Miller , the first president of the New Orleans Mid - Winter Sports Association , guided the Sugar Bowl through its difficult formative years of 1934 and 1935 . Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl , when Bobby Grier ' s Pitt Panthers met the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets . There had been controversy over whether Grier should be allowed to play , and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Georgia governor Marvin Griffin ' s opposition to integration . In November 1967 , Army ' s success on the field made them a strong candidate to be selected for the 1968 Sugar Bowl . However , Pentagon officials , in the midst of the Vietnam War , refused to allow the team to play what would have been the academy ' s first bowl game ever — citing the " heavy demands on the players ' time " as well as an emphasis on football " not consistent with the academy ' s basic mission : to produce career Army officers . " Tulane Stadium hosted the game from 1935 through 1974 . It has been played in the Louisiana Superdome since 1975 . The Sugar Bowl ' s corporate title sponsor was USF & G Financial Services from 1987 to 1995 and Nokia cellular telephone s of Finland from 1995 to 2006 . In March 2006 Allstate Insurance was announced as the new title sponsor . ABC Sports televised the game from 1969 through 2006 . Fox Sports televised the game from 2007 to 2009 as part of its contract with the BCS . ESPN will start airing the game with the 2010 – 11 season , after outbidding Fox for the broadcasting rights . The 2006 Sugar Bowl game was played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta , Georgia because of the extensive damage the Superdome suffered as a result of Hurricane Katrina . The Sugar Bowl has since returned to the refurbished Superdome . Prior to the BCS , the game traditionally hosted the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) champion against a top - tier at - large opponent . This was formalized in 1975 , when the SEC champion was granted an automatic bid to the Sugar Bowl starting with the end of the 1976 season . This continued throughout the time of the Bowl Coalition , a precursor to the BCS . However , the Sugar Bowl agreed to release the SEC champion if necessary to force a national championship game . When the Bowl Coalition became the Bowl Alliance after the 1995 season , the link with the SEC was briefly broken , as was the case with all conference tie - ins with bowl games ( except the Rose Bowl ) . Under the current BCS format , the Sugar Bowl continues to host the SEC champion against a top - tier at - large opponent , unless the SEC champion goes to the BCS National Championship Game . When this happens , the Sugar Bowl usually selects the highest - ranked SEC team still available in the BCS pool . The SEC champion has been to the BCS title game since the end of the 2006 season . The Sugar Bowl maintains an archive of past programs , images , newsreels , and other materials . The archive , originally housed in the Superdome , survived Hurricane Katrina , but a more secure home was needed . During the summer of 2007 , the Sugar Bowl donated its materials to The Historic New Orleans Collection , designating it the permanent home of its archive . 2011 Sugar Bowl winner Ohio State vacated its Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas in response to National Collegiate Athletic Association allegations over a memorabilia - for - cash scandal . The 2012 game , pitting the Michigan Wolverines against the Virginia Tech Hokies , was the first Sugar Bowl since 2000 — and only the sixth since World War II — without an SEC team . Both of the SEC ' s BCS participants , Alabama and LSU , played in the National Championship Game , and under current BCS rules only two teams per conference are eligible for BCS bowls . In May 2012 , the Big 12 and SEC announced plans to create a new bowl game , the " Champions Bowl " , that would play host to the champions of those two conferences . But by November 2012 , it was decided instead that the Sugar Bowl will play host to the champions of the Big 12 and SEC , beginning in January 2015 . If one of those teams takes part in the national semifinal , a team from the same conference will take their place . Also , it will become one of the bowls that will rotate as a spot for a national semifinal game . Game results . " Italics denote a tie game . " < br > + - Denotes Bowl Coalition Championship game < br > ^ - Denotes Bowl Alliance Championship game < br > < nowiki > * < / nowiki > - Denotes BCS National Championship Game < br > † - Played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta , Georgia < br > ‡ - Ohio State had defeated Arkansas , 31 - 26 , but the game was vacated due to NCAA infractions committed . Most Valuable Players ( Miller - Digby Award ) . " NOTE : Terrelle Pryor ( QB , Ohio State ) was ruled ineligible afterwards and his entire record was vacated from the 2010 season . " Broadcasting . In recent years , television broadcast rights to the Sugar Bowl have been part of the BCS contract . From 1999 - 2006 , the game aired on ABC as part of its BCS package , where it had also been televised from 1969 through 1998 . The Sugar Bowl was the only Bowl Alliance game to stick with ABC following the 1995 , 1996 and 1997 seasons ; the Fiesta and Orange Bowls were televised by CBS . Prior to that , NBC aired the game for several years . From 2006 to 2010 , Fox broadcast the game , while ESPN picked up the Sugar Bowl after picking up the rest of the BCS beginning in the 2009 - 2010 season . For 2013 , ESPN Deportes introduced a Spanish language telecast of the game . In November 2012 , ESPN announced that it had reached a deal to maintain broadcast rights to the Sugar Bowl through 2026 . ESPN will pay $ 55 million yearly to broadcast the game beginning in the 2014 - 15 season under the new contract , which will take effect following the conclusion of ESPN ' s contract with , and subsequent discontinuation of the BCS . ESPN made a similar deal to maintain broadcast rights to the Orange Bowl following the discontinuation of the BCS as well .