Snoop Dogg is attaching his name on the Arizona Bowl for what will be the first partnership between an alcohol brand and a college bowl game, the legendary rapper announced Monday.
The “Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop” is scheduled for Dec. 28 at Arizona Stadium and will match teams from the Mountain West Conference and Mid-American Conference.
“College football fans are exhausted by the constant talk around NIL, conference realignment, coach movement, transfer portal and super conferences,” Snoop Dog said in a video on social media. “So it’s time we get back to the roots of college football, what it was focused on — the colleges, the players, the competition, the community, fan experience and the pageantry. Being a fan, coach, supporter of all levels of the game, I’ve sent many players through my (Snoop Youth Football League) to colleges and the NFL, so it’s only fitting that I step up and help get this thing right.”
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl!! 🏈 presented by Gin & Juice @ByDreAndSnoop 👊🏿 12/28/24. pic.twitter.com/xGPKxXmdzd
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) May 6, 2024
“We are a little different from all the other bowls. We’re not afraid to take risks and do things outside of the box,” said Kym Adair, the executive director of the Arizona Bowl. “An alcohol brand has always been off the table for us until recently. Everybody in the stadium is drinking a beer or cocktail. It’s time for the industry to evolve.”
“We are the way bowl games used to be,” Adair said. “It’s allowed us to be entrepreneurial and risk taking. We’re able to bring back what I think bowls were originally for, which is a celebration of football and the community. In this landscape, that celebration has been lost and dismissed by people out of touch. For those who think that we don’t matter because there’s the playoff situation, they don’t get it.”
The Arizona Bowl’s leap to prominently partner with a spirits company opens up an entire new category for bowl games, said Michael Schreiber, the founder and CEO of Playfly Sports. According to Playfly’s data, gin drinkers at sporting events are 47% more likely to be college football fans versus the general population.
“The other part is the activation with an alcohol brand. Alcohol is sold and is allowable at bowl games. There are interesting integrations you can do,” Schreiber said. “Look at the Pop-Tarts Bowl. That’s amazing work done with the activation of a brand. This is going to be the same in that respect. I think that even the announcement creates an interesting and exciting buzz.”
The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl kicks off at 2:30 p.m. MT on Dec. 28 and is expected to be televised on a network with wide linear distribution, though that deal is not yet finalized. The game, a 501(c)(3) that donates all revenues to charity, is one of few not either owned or televised on ESPN, something that gives it the flexibility to expand beyond traditional bowl thinking, Adair said.
