Fenway Bowl
| Fenway Bowl | |
|---|---|
| Wasabi Fenway Bowl | |
 | |
| Stadium | Fenway Park |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Operated | 2022–present |
| Conference tie-ins | The American, ACC |
| Website | fenwaybowl |
| Sponsors | |
Wasabi Technologies (2022–present) | |
| 2025 matchup | |
| UConn vs. Army (Army 41–16) | |
The Fenway Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized by ESPN Events and Fenway Sports Management, it features teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.[1] The bowl is one of three active bowl games staged in a baseball stadium, along with the Pinstripe Bowl (Yankee Stadium) and Rate Bowl (Chase Field).[2][3][4] The Fenway Bowl is one of three contemporary bowl games that have never released payout totals for the teams involved in the game (the Myrtle Beach Bowl and LA Bowl are the others).
History
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American football games at Fenway Park date to 1912, the year the venue opened.[5] Various high school, college, and professional football teams have played at Fenway, including the Boston Patriots during the American Football League (AFL) era, and the Boston College Eagles.[5] Prior to the Fenway Bowl, no bowl game had been scheduled for the ballpark.
Organizers had planned for the inaugural playing of the Fenway Bowl to be during the 2020–21 bowl season. On October 23, 2020, it was reported that the bowl would not debut as planned, citing COVID-19 pandemic concerns.[6] Postponement of the bowl was confirmed by organizers the following week, with the temporary Montgomery Bowl being created as a substitute.[7][8]
On May 27, 2021, organizers announced a game date for the 2021–22 bowl season of December 29, 2021.[9] On November 4, 2021, Wasabi Technologies signed on as the title sponsor of the game.[10] However, the game was canceled three days prior to kickoff due to COVID issues within the Virginia team; they had been set to face SMU.[11]
On December 17, 2022, as part of the 2022–23 bowl season, the Fenway Bowl was played for the first time, featuring Cincinnati and Louisville.[12] The following year, the first ranked team was invited to the bowl, as SMU (17th in the AP poll and 24th in the College Football Playoff rankings) faced Boston College.[13]
Game results
Rankings are based on the AP poll prior to the game being played.
| Date | Winning Team | Losing Team | Attendance | Notes / Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 17, 2022 | Louisville | 24 | Cincinnati | 7 | 15,000 | notes |
| December 28, 2023 | Boston College | 23 | No. 17 SMU | 14 | 16,238 | notes |
| December 28, 2024 | UConn | 27 | North Carolina | 14 | 27,900 | notes |
| December 27, 2025 | Army | 41 | UConn | 16 | 22,461 | notes |
MVPs
| Year | Offensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Pos. | Player | Team | Pos. | ||
| 2022 | Jawhar Jordan | Louisville | RB | Monty Montgomery | Louisville | LB | [14] |
| 2023 | Thomas Castellanos | Boston College | QB | Kam Arnold | Boston College | LB | [15][16] |
| 2024 | Joe Fagnano | UConn | QB | Pryce Yates | UConn | DL | [17][18] |
| 2025 | Godspower Nwawuihe | Army | RB | Kalib Fortner | Army | LB | [19] |
Appearances by team
Updated through the December 2025 edition (4 games, 8 total appearances).
- Teams with multiple appearances
| Rank | Team | Appearances | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn | 2 | 1–1 |
- Teams with a single appearance
Won (3): Army, Boston College, Louisville
Lost (3): Cincinnati, North Carolina, SMU
Appearances by conference
Updated through the December 2025 edition (4 games, 8 total appearances).
| Conference | Record | Appearances by season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | W | L | Win pct. | Won | Lost | |
| ACC | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | 2022, 2023 | 2024 |
| American | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2025 | 2022, 2023 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2024 | 2025 |
Independent appearances: UConn (2024, 2025)
Game records
| Team | Performance vs. Opponent | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Most points scored (one team) | 41, Army vs. UConn | 2025 |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 16, UConn vs. Army | 2025 |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 57, Army vs. UConn | 2025 |
| Fewest Points Allowed | 7, Cincinnati vs. Louisville | 2022 |
| Largest margin of victory | 25, Army vs. UConn | 2025 |
| Total yards | 476, Army vs. UConn (108 pass, 368 rush) | 2025 |
| Rushing yards | 368, Army vs. UConn | 2025 |
| Passing yards | 151, UConn vs. North Carolina | 2024 |
| First downs | 24, Louisville vs. Cincinnati | 2022 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 127, Cincinnati vs. Louisville | 2022 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | 44, Cincinnati vs. Louisville | 2022 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 83, Cincinnati vs. Louisville | 2022 |
| Individual | Performance, Team | Year |
| Total yards | 258, Thomas Castellanos (BC) | 2023 |
| All-Purpose yards | 171, Godspower Nwawuihe (Army) (171 rush) | 2025 |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 2, shared by: Jawhar Jordan (Louisville) Thomas Castellanos (BC) Godspower Nwawuihe (Army) Cale Hellums (Army) | 2022 2023 2025 2025 |
| Rushing yards | 171, Godspower Nwawuihe (Army) | 2025 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 2, shared by: Jawhar Jordan (Louisville) Thomas Castellanos (BC) Godspower Nwawuihe (Army) Cale Hellums (Army) | 2022 2023 2025 2025 |
| Passing yards | 151, Joe Fagnano (UConn) | 2024 |
| Passing touchdowns | 2, Joe Fagnano (UConn) | 2024 |
| Receptions | 7, shared by: Noah Short (Army) Reymello Murphy (UConn) | 2025 2025 |
| Receiving yards | 108, Noah Short (Army) | 2025 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 1, shared by: Wyatt Fischer (Cincinnati) Marshon Ford (Louisville) Jaylan Knighton (SMU) Skyler Bell (UConn) John Copenhaver (North Carolina) Noah Short (Army) | 2022 2022 2023 2024 2024 2025 |
| Tackles | 16, Ivan Pace Jr. (Cincinnati) | 2022 |
| Sacks | 1.5, shared by: Yasir Abdullah (Louisville) YaYa Diaby (Louisville) | 2022 |
| Interceptions | 1, shared by: Armorion Smith (Cincinnati) Ja'von Hicks (Cincinnati) Alex Kilgore (SMU) Tui Faumuina-Brown (UConn) | 2022 2022 2023 2024 |
| Long Plays | Performance, Team | Year |
| Touchdown run | 70 yds., Godspower Nwawuihe (Army) | 2025 |
| Touchdown pass | 40 yds., Caleb Hellums to Noah Short (Cincinnati) | 2025 |
| Kickoff return | 95 yds., Chase Culliver (North Carolina) | 2024 |
| Punt return | 6 yds., Lewis Bond (Boston College) | 2023 |
| Interception return | 20 yds., Armorion Smith (Cincinnati) | 2022 |
| Fumble return | ||
| Punt | 56 yds., Mark Vassett (Louisville) | 2022 |
| Field goal | 49 yds., Chris Freeman (Connecticut) | 2025 |
Source:[20]
Media coverage
The bowl has been televised by ESPN since its inception.
References
- ↑ "New bowl game at Fenway Park to match teams from ACC, AAC". AP News. September 16, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ↑ "Boston's Fenway Park to host new 2020 college football bowl game between ACC, AAC teams". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
- ↑ "Fenway Park will reportedly begin hosting a bowl game in 2020". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
- ↑ "Fenway Sports Management and ESPN Events Officially Introduce "The Fenway Bowl"". Retrieved September 17, 2019.
- 1 2 "Football at Fenway Through the Years". MLB.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
- ↑ Saunders, Alan (October 23, 2020). "Report: 2020 Fenway Bowl Won't Be Played, 2nd ACC-Tied Bowl to Cancel". pittsburghsportsnow.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ↑ "ESPN Events Reveals 13-Game College Football Bowl Schedule for 2020-21: Inaugural Launch of the Fenway Bowl Postponed". espnpressroom.com (Press release). October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ↑ "2020-21 Bowl Season Schedule Announced". bowlseason.com. October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ↑ "Inaugural 'Fenway Bowl' Announced For December 29". WBZ-TV. CBS. May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ↑ "Fenway Bowl Announces Wasabi Technologies as Title Sponsor". Retrieved November 4, 2020.
- ↑ Adelson, Andrea (December 26, 2021). "Military, Fenway Bowls Canceled Because of COVID-19 Issues". ESPN. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ↑ Golen, Jimmy (December 17, 2022). "Interim coach Deion Branch leads Louisville past Cincinnati at Fenway Bowl". CBS News. AP. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
- ↑ "No. 17 SMU To Face Boston College In Wasabi Fenway Bowl". smumustangs.com. December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
- ↑ Cubit, Alexis (December 17, 2022). "Louisville dominates Cincinnati in Fenway Bowl to retain Keg of Nails". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved December 17, 2022 – via MSN.com.
- ↑ @FenwayBowl (December 28, 2023). "Your Wasabi Fenway Bowl Offensive MVP, Thomas Castellanos!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ↑ @FenwayBowl (December 28, 2023). "Congratulations to this year's Defensive MVP, Kam Arnold!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ↑ @FenwayBowl (December 28, 2024). "Give it up for your 2024 Wasabi Fenway Bowl Offensive MVP!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2024 – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ↑ @FenwayBowl (December 28, 2024). "Congrats to Defensive MVP, Pryce Yates!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2024 – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ↑ @FenwayBowl (December 27, 2025). "MVP! MVP! MVP!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 27, 2025 – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ↑ "Cincinnati vs. Louisville - College Football Game Summary - December 17, 2022". ESPN. Retrieved December 27, 2022.