2017 Sun Bowl to return to New Year’s Eve; celebration will mark 50-year relationship with CBS

With the 83rd Annual Hyundai Sun Bowl now in the rear view mirror, it’s time to start thinking about the next one!

This year’s game will be played on Friday again, this time on Dec. 29. The following two years, it will move from what was expected to be Saturday games back to New Year’s Eve to accommodate the College Football Playoff.

“If people weren’t watching, they missed a heck of a football game,” Hyundai Sun Bowl Executive Director Bernie Olivas said of last Friday’s game. Stanford defeated North Carolina, 25-23, despite a smaller crowd than usual (42,166).

“We’re pleased with that crowd. Obviously, you want to get that 50,000 every year, but we know that’s not possible,” Olivas said.

During the 15-year stint between 2000 and 2014, the Sun Bowl averaged 49,636 per game, with the largest crowd coming for Notre Dame-Miami game in 2010. The past two years, attendance has slipped to an average of 41,673 per game, about eight-thousand below the previous average.

“Unfortunately, El Paso is a working community, it’s a working city,” said Hyundai Sun Bowl Selection Chairman John Folmer. “We need to get back on Saturday so everybody can come and see the game and have a good time.”

That’s not going to happen. Next year’s game is, again, slated for a Friday, Dec. 29. The 2018 and 2019 games were slated for Saturday kickoffs, but Olivas said that has changed.

“Midstream, the College Football Playoffs, moved its games to our original dates,” Olivas said. “So I had a meeting with CBS and talked about the best options for us. We mutually agreed to go back to Dec. 31, which was our traditional date for ever. Our biggest crowds have been on the 31st, so hopefully that’s going to work out.”

Olivas said El Pasoans continue to be the biggest Sun Bowl supporters. “As long as they continue to support us,” he said, “our crowds will be good just like they’ve always been.”

Four of the top five Sun Bowl crowds of all-time have happened on New Year’s Eve dates. Next year will marks the 50th consecutive Sun Bowl on CBS and Olivas said a big celebration is planned.