Normally, Saturdays at Arizona Stadium are centered around Wildcats. But this Saturday afternoon was all about the dog — the D-O-Double-G — at the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop.
On his way to the battle between Colorado State and Miami (Ohio) at Arizona Stadium, the hip-hop legend and newest sponsor of the Arizona Bowl stopped by the tailgate scene.
Escorted by Arizona Bowl chairman Ali Farhang, Snoop Dogg, donning a custom tan and green Arizona Bowl letterman jacket, took the porch — er, stage at the "Gin & Juice House" set up on the UA mall near Campbell Avenue.
Snoop Dogg greeted fans, signed autographs and took photos with Gin & Juice employees before trekking to Arizona Stadium.
After changing into an Arizona Bowl tracksuit, Snoop Dogg met the Colorado State and Miami captains at midfield for the pregame coin toss. In the first quarter on Saturday, Snoop Dogg was the offensive play-caller for both teams on the first play, then served as a color commentator periodically throughout the game on The CW broadcast.
Snoop Dogg greets the crowd outside the Dr. Dre & Snoop Gin & Juice House during tailgating on the University of Arizona mall before the Arizona Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.
Before every kickoff, the in-stadium DJ ordered the crowd to yell "Snooooop" in the same tone as the "Drop It Like It's Hot" chorus.
At halftime, Snoop Dogg conducted the Colorado State and Miami marching bands as they performed several of his songs, including "What's My Name?" and "Lay Low."
Classic whips
Several car clubs displayed their classic cars on the UA mall for the tailgate scene. The "Stylistics Car Club" Tucson chapter and "Perfect Imperfections," among others, had cars such as a 1964 Chevy Impala, Lincoln Continental, Chevy Bel Air and others.
Gin & Juice had a lowrider simulation, with airbags and hydraulics, for fans to take pictures and videos and enjoy the lowrider experience.
The south end zone was repainted with a black lowrider against a black, gray and turquoise desert backdrop.
Faces in the crowd
Jeremy Beloate, a "Team Snoop" member and finalist on Season 26 of NBC's "The Voice," sang the national anthem before the game. Julian Torres, the first mariachi singer signed to "Death Row Records," performed at halftime with local folklorico dancers.
Fans get video in a lowrider photo booth outside the Dr. Dre & Snoop Gin & Juice House on the University of Arizona mall before the Arizona Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.
Colorado State track and field standout Mya Lesnar was in Tucson to support the Rams. Lesnar, an indoor national champion in the shot put, is the daughter of retired UFC heavyweight champion and WWE superstar Brock Lesnar. Mya Lesnar was named the Mountain West's Female Athlete of the Year earlier this year.
The Bijan Robinson Foundation, founded by the Atlanta Falcons running back and Tucson native, purchased "several hundred" tickets for the Arizona Bowl, according to a bowl executive. The Bijan Robinson Foundation had its own section in the north end zone of Arizona Stadium.
Grub galore
The tailgate featured an abundance of food options from local vendors. They included:
• CowPig: The food truck offered a “Gin & Juice” menu that included an “LBC Burger,” “Snoop Fries” and a “Shiznit Sando” (chicken sandwich with bacon and ranch).
• Ukies: The Ukrainian truck’s menu included borsch and Solyanka, which Ukies describes as a “hangover soup” consisting of pickles, kielbasa, pulled pork, celery, onions, carrots, black olives and lemon.
The menu for the CowPig food truck at the tailgate party on the UA mall before the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.
• Sexy Grilled Cheese: What makes a grilled cheese sexy? The sandwich in question has cheddar, mozzarella and provolone cheeses; shaved chorizo; and red onion jam.
• Dr. Bombay: Flavors available at Snoop Dogg’s ice cream stand included Iced Out Orange Cream, Tropical Sherbet Swizzle and Syrupy Waffle Sundaze.
Music, too
The tailgate also showcased local musical acts. They included Tonight’s Sunshine, which fashions itself as, among other things, a “ukelele metal” band.
Mariachi bands played outside the gates as fans entered Arizona Stadium. Mariachi Estrella Juvenil performed near Gate 1, while Mariachi Nueva Luna played near Gate 8.
Pep in their step
The pregame festivities began Friday evening with a pep rally at the corner of Fifth and Toole avenues.
Both schools’ marching bands played for a crowd of several hundred — although CSU green outnumbered Miami red about four to one.
Mariachi Estrella Juvenil performs outside Gate 1 at Arizona Stadium before the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.
“I think we’ve got half of Fort Collins here,” CSU athletic director John Weber said. “This is fantastic.”
Thom Brennaman, who called the game for The CW, emceed the pep rally, which did feature a bit of smack talk.
“Our mascot is way cooler than CAM,” Miami president Gregory Crawford said, referring to Swoop the Redhawk, who was in attendance. CSU’s mascot is CAM the Ram.
Miami athletic director David Sayler then dropped a reference to a matchup between the teams in 2003, when Ben Roethlisberger led the RedHawks to a 41-21 win in Fort Collins. Miami led the series 2-0 entering Saturday.
Snoop and Swoop
Snoop Dogg posed for a picture with Swoop the Redhawk before the halftime show. Then, just before the second half began, “Swoop Dogg” was shown on the video board.
Swoop Dogg is a yellow robotic dog often seen on the sidelines at RedHawks games. It was originally named SPOT, but Miami students renamed it after it was gifted to the school.
Derek Ruiz rises above the crowd to try to get Snoop Dogg’s attention at the Dr. Dre & Snoop Gin & Juice House during tailgating on the University of Arizona mall before the Arizona Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.
Warm and sunny
One of the Arizona Bowl’s biggest draws: the weather.
The temperature at kickoff was 70 degrees under a mostly sunny sky.
It was unseasonably warm in parts of the Midwest on Saturday; the temperature in Oxford, Ohio, at kickoff was 60 degrees — 18 above the average high. It was 42 degrees in Fort Collins.
Numbers game
202 million: Snoop Dogg's total followers on social media (Instagram, X, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube). Snoop Dogg has 88.7 million followers on Instagram; Miami and Colorado State have a combined 88,100.
4: Snoop Dogg is the fourth title sponsor of the Arizona Bowl, succeeding Barstool Sports, Offerpad and Nova Home Loans. Gin & Juice also has four flavors: citrus, apricot, passion fruit and melon.
3: Number of teams from the state of Colorado playing football Saturday. In addition to CSU, Colorado faced BYU in the Alamo Bowl and the Denver Broncos visited the Cincinnati Bengals in Game 2 of an NFL tripleheader.
Fans hang out in a double-decker bus sponsored by The PRIME Leaf dispensary at the tailgate party on the UA mall before the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.
They said it
“When we were doing the deal with Snoop last spring, he was a huge deal then. When we closed the deal and made the announcement, we knew that the Olympics were coming and he was going to be doing something with the Olympics. We heard that he was maybe going to be a coach on 'The Voice.' … After our announcement, the Olympics happened, he’s on 'The Voice' and he’s on all of these commercials. If you watch the T-Mobile commercial with Patrick Mahomes, our helmet is there with our logo on it. It’s awesome. We could not have planned this better. This is Snoop’s world; we’re just living in it.” — Arizona Bowl executive director Kym Adair, on Snoop Dogg’s impact
