One bowl for the 2021 college football season has already been canceled

A bowl game has already been canceled for 2021 bowl season. The San Francisco Bowl was shut down on Friday for the second consecutive year, according to The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel.

“The San Francisco Bowl (formerly Redbox Bowl) has been canceled for a second straight season, source tells me,” Mandel tweeted on Friday. “As of earlier this week organizer believed they could salvage it but didn’t get done.”

Since 2002, the bowl has had seven different names, including the Emerald Bowl from 2004-2009 and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl from 2010-2012.

The annual bowl game originated in 2002

The bowl, originally known as the Redbox Bowl, has been played annually in the San Francisco Bay area since 2002. From 2002 to 2013, the bowl’s home was AT&T Park, home of the MLB’s San Francisco Giants. It was played at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, from 2014 through 2019. The bowl did not occur last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2014, the bowl has included a team from the Pac-12 and another from the Big Ten. Most recently, California won the bowl game 35-20 over Illinois in 2019. The bowl has also included teams from the ACC, Mountain West, Big East, WAC, and independent schools.

Boston College and UCLA have each made three appearances in the bowl. California and Utah are the only two teams to win the bowl multiple times, both being 2-0 in their appearances.

Statement by the San Francisco Bowl committee

The San Francisco Bowl committee released a statement on Friday. Despite the bowl being canceled for the second consecutive season, hope remains that it will return to the bowl lineup next year.

“The San Francisco Bowl remains committed to hosting post-season college football in the Bay Area,” the statement said. “As we’ve navigated these unprecedented times, despite our best efforts, we are unable to stage the Bowl game in 2021. We look forward to working with the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences and all stakeholders to welcome back college football Bowl season, its team and fans, to our world-class region in 2022.”

Big Ten/Pac-12 joint statement

The Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences put out a joint statement on Friday afternoon. They are committing to try and bring the bowl back in the future.

“The Big Ten and the Pac-12 greatly value our relationship with the San Francisco Bowl,” the statement said. “The Bowl has annually provided a memorable opportunity for the Big Ten and Pac-12 student athletes to showcase their talents in front of a national audience and experience one of the world’s great cities.

“While the game will not take place this season, we are working together with local Bowl Organizers towards confirming the 2022 edition of the event and continuing this annual Bowl tradition.”