Upcoming LA Bowl dates
Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.
Before you buy: there is no 2026 LA Bowl
The LA Bowl will not be played in 2026. The game held five editions at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and the last one, on December 13, 2025, ended with Washington beating Boise State 38–10. The 2026–27 bowl schedule has no LA Bowl on it.
News that the bowl was ending broke in December 2025, a few days before that last kickoff. Organizers made it final in early 2026, though sources disagree on the exact date, placing the formal announcement anywhere from mid-January to early February. Their statement said that after five years, the LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium would no longer be moving forward.
Treat any listing for a 2026 LA Bowl with suspicion. If you want postseason football in Southern California, look at the options further down this page.
Why realignment ended the game
The Mountain West and the Pac-12 announced the partnership in July 2019 as a five-year deal and unveiled the game in February 2020. The formula paired the Mountain West champion (or the next team in line if the champion went to a bigger bowl) with the Pac-12's fifth pick, in an NFL stadium in front of a West Coast audience. StadCo LA, the company that runs SoFi Stadium, operated the event.
Then ten schools left the Pac-12 in 2024 for the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, and the conference could no longer supply its half of the matchup. The contract let those departed legacy schools fill the Pac-12 slot through 2025, which is why Washington, by then in the Big Ten, played in the final edition. Once the agreement ran out, there was no pairing left to renew.
Where fans sat at SoFi for the LA Bowl
SoFi Stadium opened in September 2020 for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. A translucent canopy covers the building while the sides stay open, so you are out of the rain and direct sun but still feel outdoors. The Infinity Screen, a two-sided video board of about 2.2 million pounds hanging over the field, makes replays easy to follow even from the top.
With crowds of 23,000 to 33,000 in a stadium built for about 70,000, the bowl mostly used the lower sideline seats, and each school's fans grouped behind their own bench. The same seat logic still applies for the NFL and college games SoFi hosts:
- Lower sideline, row 15 or higher: clears the bench area and stays close.
- Upper sideline near midfield: the value choice, helped by the overhead screen.
The SoFi Stadium guide on this site covers the full layout.
Every LA Bowl, 2021 to 2025
The game was set to debut on December 30, 2020, but the pandemic canceled it, so the first kickoff came a year later. All five games fell in mid-December:
- 2021 (Dec. 18): Utah State topped Oregon State 24–13; crowd 29,896.
- 2022 (Dec. 17): Fresno State handled Washington State 29–6; crowd 32,405.
- 2023 (Dec. 16): UCLA beat Boise State 35–22; crowd 32,780, the bowl's best.
- 2024 (Dec. 18): UNLV defeated California 24–13; crowd 24,420.
- 2025 (Dec. 13): Washington routed Boise State 38–10; crowd 23,269.
A local team, UCLA, produced the largest turnout, and no crowd came close to filling the stadium. The finale still reached a TV audience reported at 3.8 million.
Kimmel, Gronk and the sponsor names
Celebrity hosts gave the bowl its identity as much as its sponsors did. It began as the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl presented by Stifel for 2021 and 2022, with the late-night host's name on the game. Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski took over in 2023, and the titles followed him: the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk (2023), the Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk (2024) and the Bucked Up LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk (2025). The branding helped a young game stand out in a crowded December TV lineup, but it could not substitute for a stable conference tie-in.
Bowl options near Los Angeles now
- Rose Bowl: the region's signature bowl, played at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena.
- Holiday Bowl: south in San Diego at Snapdragon Stadium, set for December 28, 2026.
- Las Vegas Bowl: a short flight away at Allegiant Stadium.
SoFi Stadium continues to host NFL games, concerts and other major events, listed at sofistadium.com. Any order you place on Reserved Seat for those games carries a 100% guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy LA Bowl tickets for 2026?
No. The bowl ended after the December 13, 2025 game, and it is not on the 2026–27 schedule. Be wary of any listing that claims otherwise.
What happened to the LA Bowl?
It depended on a Mountain West versus Pac-12 matchup. After ten schools left the Pac-12 in 2024, that pairing fell apart, and the agreement expired after 2025 without renewal.
Who played in the final LA Bowl?
Washington and Boise State, on December 13, 2025. Washington won 38–10 before 23,269.
Which LA Bowl drew the biggest crowd?
The 2023 game, UCLA against Boise State, with 32,780.
Who hosted the LA Bowl?
Jimmy Kimmel lent his name to the 2021 and 2022 games, and Rob Gronkowski hosted from 2023 through 2025.