Tucson, Ariz. – The Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission announced the creation of the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Thursday.

The bowl game will debut on Dec. 29, 2015 and will match two teams from the Mountain West Conference, Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference. The game will be played at the University of Arizona’s stadium in Tucson, Ariz.

“The Sun Belt Conference and its member universities are thrilled to be partnering with the Mountain West Conference, the Conference USA and the Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission to be included in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson. “I’m happy that our student-athletes and fans can look forward to more postseason opportunities with this partnership and I know that the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl will be a great showcase for college football.”

“Our organization’s charter is to promote the state and its many communities through sports and we know this bowl game will indeed do just that,” said ASEC Chief Operating Officer, Alan Young. “We are excited to see a NCAA bowl game return to Tucson and we anticipate the community will support it well into the future.”

The NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl is the first-ever bowl game to have a digitally-focused broadcast strategy to be orchestrated by primary digital media partner Campus Insiders. Details and technology partnerships along with the television broadcast partner will be announced at a later date.

The Sun Belt Conference has grown from having just one primary bowl game from 2001 through 2010 to now having four primary postseason bowl game tie-ins. The Cure Bowl, which will debut in 2015, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl and the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl are the Sun Belt’s primary bowl tie-ins. In addition the Sun Belt Conference is also part of a coalition that will send teams to the Miami Beach Bowl and the Bahamas Bowl on a rotating basis.

ABOUT THE NOVA HOME LOANS ARIZONA BOWL

The NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl was sanctioned in March 2015 as the 41st NCAA college football game and the third bowl game staged in Arizona. Kicking off in December 2015, the bowl game will feature two teams from among the Mountain West Conference, Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference. The NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl is dedicated to promoting community engagement and support in the Tucson area. For more information about the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl, or for ticket information, visit www.azbowlgame.com.

ABOUT THE ARIZONA SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSION

The Arizona Sports and Entertainment Commission is a non-profit organization created in 1988. The Commission collaborates with hundreds of partners to help fulfill the mission of bringing national and international sporting events to the state, assisting in the promotion of existing events and Arizona sports teams, and developing youth sports programs throughout the Valley. In 1999, it assumed oversight of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2012, the Grand Canyon State Games. For more information about the Commission call 602.258.6272 or visit www.azsportsent.com.

ABOUT THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE

The Sun Belt Conference’s “Together We Rise” motto isn’t just hyperbole. It’s proven fact on many different levels, not the least being its place in the hierarchy of collegiate athletics. As the league prepares to celebrate four decades since its founding in 1976, the Sun Belt occupies a “seat at the table” as a permanent part of the NCAA’s 24-member Board of Directors. That alone insures that the conference has a voice in determining the future as college sports continues to change and evolve.

Opportunities for Sun Belt student-athletes to succeed both on and off the field have never been greater, and the Sun Belt is well positioned in the areas of scholarship, student welfare and academic success. During the 2014-15 academic year alone, Sun Belt member institutions awarded nearly $50 million in scholarship funds to over 3,084 student-athletes while also contributing over $2 million from the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) to over 1,779 student-athletes.

The Sun Belt Conference’s membership consists of 11 football members – Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Idaho, UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, New Mexico State, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy. Little Rock and UT Arlington compete in all-sports as non-football members while Idaho and New Mexico State are football only members. Coastal Carolina will join the Sun Belt Conference in all sports but football in 2016. The CCU football program will begin Sun Belt play in 2018.

For more information on the Sun Belt Conference, visit www.sunbeltsports.org