Finally, a place on the West Coast to watch the ball drop — and caught and kicked and carried — on New Year’s Eve.

The 2018 SDCCU Holiday Bowl will be played Dec. 31, bowl officials announced Tuesday. The game will be broadcast natonally on Fox Sports 1 for the second straight year. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at SDCCU Stadium.

“We’re fired up,” said Mark Neville, the Holiday Bowl’s executive director. “For the first time in our history, we’ll be kicking off the new year with the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl. We’re looking at it as we’ve got your plans set for New Year’s Eve. You can check that box off. SDCCU Stadium is the place to be on New Year’s Eve.”

The game matches teams from the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences. No. 16-ranked Michigan State defeated No. 18 Washington State 42-17 last year.


The Holiday Bowl traditionally has been played the week between Christmas and New Year’s, including 16 times on Dec. 30. The game last year was played Dec. 28.

Kickoff for the 41st annual game is early enough that fans can still go to a postgame party for a midnight celebration if they are so inclined. Neville said the date should be welcome for out-of-town fans.

“Travel-wise for fans coming to follow their teams, this date is excellent,” he said. “When you’re closer to Christmas and trying to make flights to get out here, your opportunities are limited. When we’re playing on the 31st, people can shop their flights a lot better.”

Neville believes that the kickoff time — 7 p.m. on the East Coast — also will benefit viewership.


“It will end before midnight on the East Coast, probably around 10:30,” Neville said. “People are going to be awake, so they’re going to be watching it. Then they can turn over and watch the ball drop (in New York).”

This is the second straight year on FS1 for the Holiday Bowl, which had been televised by ESPN the previous 30 years. The Holiday Bowl has a multiyear agreement with Fox Sports to broadcast its game.

“We were very happy with our first-year partnership with Fox Sports,” Neville said. “The promotion that we got for the game telecast was really unprecedented for us. They promoted the game telecast during Sunday NFL games leading up to the game. We had lots of participation by the Fox Sports personalities that are assigned to college football.”

Fox Sports will be televising two bowl games, both on New Year’s Eve. The Holiday Bowl is the second game of that doubleheader, following the San Francisco Bowl.


There are three bowl games on ESPN that day: Military, Liberty and Gator. The Holiday Bowl telecast will go head-to-head with the Gator Bowl, which kicks off at 4:30 p.m. PST.

The SDCCU Holiday Bowl also will be hosting a midseason game during the 2018 season. The Navy-Notre Dame game will be played at SDCCU Stadium on Oct. 27. Anyone interested in ticket information for either game can visit HolidayBowl.com or call (619) 283-5808.


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kirk.kenney@sduniontribune.com / on Twitter: @sdutkirKDKenney