ESPN Events signs new six-year deal for Cricket Celebration Bowl, continuing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta

ESPN Events signs new six-year deal for Cricket Celebration Bowl, continuing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta

• The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference Champions will meet annually until 2026
• Jackson State will face South Carolina State on Saturday at noon on ET ABC

ATLANTA (December 17, 2021).) – ESPN Events has signed a new six-year contract Cricket party bowl to continue at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Now in its sixth year, the annual college football game, featuring the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), will continue to compete at the home of the Atlanta Falcons until 2026.

The 2021 Cricket Celebration Bowl will be played on Saturday, Dec. 18 at ET, when SWAC champion Jackson State University Tigers will face MEAC champion South Carolina State Bulldogs. The match will be televised nationwide on ABC.

“We are pleased to continue our contract with AMB Sports and Entertainment. The opening of the college football season in Atlanta, at one of the best sports and event venues in the world, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is a real pleasure for our team and our fans, ”said John Grant, Executive Director of Cricket Celebration Bowl.

“We are excited to be home to the Cricket Wireless Celebration Bowl,” said Tim Zulawski, revenue director at AMB Sports and Entertainment. “John Grant and his team at ESPN Events are doing an excellent job of promoting HBCU football, and we are excited to be able to host this game until at least 2026.”

Starting for the sixth time, the Cricket Celebration Bowl has established itself as a leading bowl game that historically celebrates the heritage, heritage, splendor and tradition of Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). The championship-style game between the MEAC and SWAC Champions will be televised on ABC. ESPN Events is partnering with its sponsors and the Greek organization Divine Nine to schedule side events for the game that include a fan experience, community service projects, and more.

Since its debut in 2015, the Celebration Bowl has been the only bowl game in the subdivision of Football Division 1. The game was played at the Georgia Dome for the first two years (2015-16) before it moved to its new home at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2017. The bowl will return in 2021 after a year-long break in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Celebration Bowl Games (2015 Star):

2015 North Carolina A&T def. Alcorn State, 41-34

2016 Grambling State def. North Carolina Central, 10-9

2017 North Carolina A&T def. Grambling State, 21-14

2018 North Carolina A&T def. Alcorn State, 24-22

2019 North Carolina A&T def. Alcorn, 64-44

2020 No incident due to the COVID pandemic

2021 Jackson State vs. South Carolina State

Tickets and more information about the Cricket Celebration Bowl can be found at thecelebrationbowl.com.

About Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Opened in August 2017, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a world-class sports and entertainment venue in downtown Atlanta, home to the National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons and Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United. The multipurpose stadium was named the 2019 Sports Center and will host major sporting and entertainment events such as the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championships, the 2018 MLS All-Star Game and the Super Bowl LIII. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is the first professional sports stadium in North America to receive LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Mercedes-Benz Stadium is proud to partner with nomination partner Mercedes-Benz and 13 founding partners, including Coca-Cola, Equifax, The Home Depot, Novelis, SCANA Energy, Truist, IBM, Georgia Power, American Family Insurance and Global. Dues. Follow us Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About ESPN events

ESPN events, A division of ESPN, owns and operates an extensive portfolio of 35 college sporting events worldwide. The list includes five early-season college football games, 17 college bowls, 12 college basketball events, and a college softball event that includes about 400 hours of live programming, reaches nearly 64 million viewers, and attracts more than 800,000 participants annually. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and Tampa, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities and offers unique experiences for teams and fans.

For more information, visit the official website website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.