Snoop Dogg now has his name on a college football bowl game
Move over Jimmy Kimmel, a new Dogg is moving into the college football bowl title sponsorship game.
Legendary rapper and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg is lending his name to the Arizona Bowl, which will now be known as the “Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice.” The game takes place Dec. 28 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.
“Being a fan, coach, supporter of all levels of the game, I sent many players through my SYFL to colleges and the NFL,” Snoop (Mr. Dogg?) said in a social media post Monday. “So it’s only fitting that I step up and help get this thing right. I’m ready to bring the ‘juice’ back to college football. I’m taking my talents … to Arizona.”
A 17-time Grammy Award nominee, Snoop (given name, Calvin Broadus) launched the Gin & Juice pre-mixed beverage brand with longtime collaborator Dr. Dre earlier this year. The two teamed up for Snoop’s iconic song of the same name some 30 years ago, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard charts in 1994.
As noted, Snoop is not the first celebrity to sponsor a bowl game. Kimmel, the ABC talk show host and multi-time Oscars host, sponsored the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl in 2021-22. Former NFL star Rob Gronkowski took over as LA Bowl “host” for title sponsor Starco Brands in 2023.
And it’s not a totally off-base move for the Arizona Bowl, either. The game was sponsored from 2021-23 by Barstool Sports, the controversial sports website and digital media company.
“We are a little different from all the other bowls. We’re not afraid to take risks and do things outside of the box,” Arizona Bowl executive director Kym Adair told Yahoo Sports. “An alcohol brand has always been off the table for us until recently. Everybody in the stadium is drinking a beer or cocktail. It’s time for the industry to evolve.”
The Arizona Bowl features a matchup of teams from the Mid-American Conference and Mountain West. The 2024 game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. Mountain time on Dec. 28 on a yet-to-be-determined TV network.