The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The longest-running international bowl game in college football history is the latest major event on the Bahamas’ sports tourism calendar to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ESPN Events officially announced that the 2020 Bahamas Bowl was one of its 17 of its postseason NCAA football bowl games to be cancelled due to the fallout from the pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions.

The Bahamas Bowl traditionally features teams from the Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference.

Since its inception in 2014, the Bahamas Bowl has been a platform for several programmes to achieve their first win in school history and brought postseason football to the Thomas A Robinson stadium.

The game was sponsored by Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen from 2014 - 2016 followed by Elk Grove Village and its business slogan “Makers Wanted” came on board as title sponsor in 2018 and 2019.

The Bahamas Bowl committee and its stakeholders have also attempted to foster a mutually beneficial relationship between the event and its host country.

To that end, the committee galvanised support to join the Hurricane Dorian Relief effort and contributed a total of $75,000 to the Bahamas Red Cross in October 2019 to assist those impacted by the storm that ravaged the northern Bahamas.

Each of the Bahamas Bowl’s participating conferences, the MAC and C-USA, contributed $25,000 while the Orange Bowl Committee contributed an additional $25,000.

Bowl week also features annual visits to the Ranfurly Home for Children, and a Youth Football Leadership Clinic, in conjunction with USA Football.

The inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl between the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Central Michigan Chippewas was the first FBS-level bowl game outside of the United States or Canada since 1937. The Hilltoppers held on for a 49-48 win in one of the most memorable bowl games of the 2014 season.

The improbable finish in which Central Michigan scored a 75-yard, three-lateral touchdown as time expired advanced to the Finals for the 2015 ESPY “Best Play” award.

In 2015, the Western Michigan Broncos scored a 45-31 win over the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders — the first-ever bowl victory for Western Michigan.

In the 2016 game, the Old Dominion Monarchs defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles 24-20 for the Monarchs’ first-ever bowl victory.

The 2017 game featured the most lopsided win in bowl history when the Ohio Bobcats won 41-6 over UAB in the fourth edition.

The 2018 Bahamas Bowl was recognised as the No.7 ranked bowl by CBS Sports in their recap of NCAA postseason football play.

The FIU Panthers claimed the Prime Minister’s trophy with a 35-32 win over the Toledo Rockets.

In the most recent edition, the Buffalo Bulls won 31-9 over the Charlotte 49ers, another first bowl win in a respective programme’s history.

With the Bulls’ win, the MAC evened the all-time Bahamas Bowl series, 3-3 with C-USA.

The Bahamas Bowl has also produced a total of 26 alumni chosen in the last six NFL Drafts. Additionally, a total of nine undrafted free agents who participated in the Bahamas Bowl have gone on to play at least one NFL game.

In July 2019, the MAC announced a continuation of its tie-in with the bowl through the 2025–26 football season.