Celebration Bowl facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Celebration Bowl
Cricket Celebration Bowl
"Black National Championship"
Stadium	Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Previous stadiums	Georgia Dome (2015–2016)
Operated	2015–present
Conference tie-ins	MEAC, SWAC
Payout	US$2 million ($1M per conference)
Preceded by	Pelican Bowl (1972, 1974–1975) Heritage Bowl (1991–1999)
Sponsors
Air Force Reserve (2015–2016, 2018) Cricket Wireless (2020–present)
2022 matchup
North Carolina Central vs. Jackson State (North Carolina Central 41–34OT)
2023 matchup
Howard vs. Florida A&M (Florida A&M 30–26)

The Celebration Bowl is a special college football game played after the regular season. It started in 2015. This game brings together the top teams from two important college sports groups: the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

These conferences are made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The Celebration Bowl is often called the national championship for black college football. It takes place every year in Atlanta, Georgia, usually in December. The game has been played at the Georgia Dome and now at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It's the only active bowl game for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

About the Celebration Bowl's History

The Celebration Bowl continues a tradition of games between the MEAC and SWAC. Before it, there were other games like the Pelican Bowl and Heritage Bowl. This game is unique because it happens during the FCS playoff season. This means that the champions from the SWAC and MEAC usually play in the Celebration Bowl instead of the FCS playoffs.

How the Bowl Game Started

The Celebration Bowl is organized by ESPN Events. This group also runs the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, which is another game between these two conferences held earlier in the year. For its first few years, the Celebration Bowl was sponsored by the Air Force Reserve.

In 2020, Cricket Wireless became the main sponsor. That's why it's now officially called the Cricket Celebration Bowl.

Important Moments for the Bowl

In 2017, the SWAC announced they would stop having their own championship game. This meant their regular season winner would go straight to the Celebration Bowl. However, they changed their minds in 2018. The SWAC still holds its championship game, and the winner then plays in the Celebration Bowl.

In 2020, the Celebration Bowl didn't happen. This was because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The MEAC canceled all its fall sports, and the SWAC moved its football season to the spring of 2021.

Game Highlights and Results

Here are the results of the Celebration Bowl games played so far:

Star Players and Records

Each Celebration Bowl game names two Most Valuable Players (MVPs): one offensive player and one defensive player.

Tarik Cohen was the Offensive MVP of the 2015 game.

Teams with the Most Wins

Here are the teams that have played in the Celebration Bowl the most, up to December 2023. Wins are shown in bold in the "Years" column.

Game Records

These tables show some of the best performances and longest plays in Celebration Bowl history.

Watching the Game

You can watch and listen to the Celebration Bowl on TV and radio. Here are some of the people who have called the games.

Television

Radio

See also

• List of college bowl games
• African Americans in Atlanta
• MEAC/SWAC Challenge
• HBCU Legacy Bowl