Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl 'something that we can all be proud of'

It could be the Snoop Dogg effect. It could be the fact that Tucson's college football bowl game is now broadcast on national TV.

Regardless of the driving force, Miami (Ohio) was positively impacted by the Redhawks' win at the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop.

Miami had a 30% uptick in applicants from Arizona in the last year and a significant increase in brand awareness, according to Arizona Bowl executive director Kym Adair. Over 567,000 people watched last year's Arizona Bowl on The CW. The bowl game set an attendance record with 40,076.  

"They saw a lot of benefit from being a part of our game and we hear that from all of our teams that come," Adair said. "It's not only important for the players on the field and playing and winning the game, but it's also another opportunity for these universities to market themselves to the entire nation." 

For the players and coaches, "it means a lot to them. It's like their Super Bowl," said Adair.

Miami's experience at the Arizona Bowl last season was why the university's athletic director, David Sayler, requested Adair and the bowl game to invite the Redhawks in the weeks leading up to bowl selection day on Sunday, Dec. 7.

Last season, Miami beat Colorado State, 43-17, and MU head coach Chuck Martin was "chained" by Snoop Dogg, who's entering his second year as the title sponsor of the Arizona Bowl, after the game. Each player from Miami received a "Death Row Records" chain from Snoop Dogg. The hip-hop legend arrived on the field in a 1964 Chevy Impala and delivered the Arizona Bowl trophy to Miami.

This time around, Miami looks to defend its chain against Fresno State in the latest version of the Mountain West-versus-MAC format. 

The Arizona Bowl is more than just a college football bowl game sponsored by one of the biggest names in hip-hop history as a sponsor.   

"We do what we do not only to put on a great event in Southern Arizona, but to create economic impact and donate significant dollars to local charities," Adair said. "Every time someone buys a ticket, it gives us an opportunity to do both of those things."

Adair said the Arizona Bowl has "generated an average of $25 million in economic impact every year, so we're looking at over $250 million in economic impact for Southern Arizona, and we've donated more than $6 million to charity."

The Arizona Bowl website has grant applications for charities. In the last year, the Arizona Bowl has donated money to 25 charity organizations, Adair said. The Arizona Bowl also donated more than 13,000 tickets for military members, veterans, teachers and first responders to attend the game. 

"It's something that we can all be proud of," added the Arizona Bowl executive director. "It's our bowl, our community's bowl game, for this community, and we hope that we people can continue to embrace it and come out to show support for not only the game, but Snoop, our title sponsor who will be here and is so excited about bowl week." 

Adair recently joined "Spears & Ali" on ESPN Tucson to talk about the Arizona Bowl's impact  

How is the Arizona Bowl different from other bowl games as far as charitable work?

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A: "Most bowl games have some sort of charitable component in some way. Maybe not all of them, because some of them are owned by broadcasters and professional sports franchises, but many of them still have a charitable component. I think what makes us different is we commit (100%) of our proceeds to charity, which means we pay our bills after the game and then whatever is left over just goes back into our community. We don't have a foundation that we're funding that holds millions of dollars. We are just really trying to get those dollars quickly back into our community."

Was the Arizona Bowl's community-focused approach an enticing opportunity for Snoop Dogg?

A: "There's a lot of synergy between what we're doing and Snoop's passion. Snoop is a very charitable and community-minded person. He loves that we give all of our net proceeds to charity. He also loves our commitment to youth football. He has a youth football league, as well. We're supporting both flag football for women and traditional football for guys. We're supporting all kinds of football and he loved that. He's Coach Snoop at heart." 

This is the 10th game of the bowl's history. How has the bowl game evolved over the last decade or so?

A: "For years, I would say that I'm a part of the Arizona Bowl, and people would ask if that was a bowling alley. 'What is that?' I don't feel like I have to explain who we are as often. Our community has really embraced what we're doing, and they get excited.

"Snoop could've picked any bowl game to be associated with, but he picked Southern Arizona's bowl game. We should be really proud of that. We have a lot of amazing things in Southern Arizona that we should be proud of. This is one of those things that we want to use to highlight our incredible community that we live in.

"It's been a fun evolution. I love how our community has embraced this game. We get to highlight Arizona for three or four hours on national television every year." 

With the current bowl agreement between the Mountain West and MAC expiring after this season, what's next for the bowl game?

A: "College football is a little bit in flux right now. All bowl games are just waiting for the College Football Playoff to decide if they're going to expand or not. Currently, no bowls have contracts beyond this year except for the CFP games. Once they can figure out if they're staying the same for 2026 or expanding, then we can move into high gear and get some of these contracts signed for the future.

"There's a lot to be determined right now. There's a lot up in the air. I figured it would be happening during the busiest time of our year. It would've been nice to have this figured out months and months ago, but we're in this waiting pattern and waiting for the CFP to make a decision. ... We hope to know something by the national championship in January." 

Extra points

– Miami and Fresno State are hosting a youth football clinic Friday morning at Casino Del Sol Stadium and Bear Down Field. The Rio Nuevo Downtown Pep Rally for both schools will be just west of the MLK Apartments near Fifth and Toole avenues on Friday. 

– Tailgating for the Arizona Bowl will begin on the UA mall on Saturday at 10 a.m. and will end just before kickoff at 2 p.m. 

– Fresno State is a 3.5-point favorite to win the Arizona Bowl, according to Action Network. The over/under is 46.5 points.