| Stadium |
University of Phoenix Stadium |
| Location |
Glendale, Arizona |
| Previous Stadiums |
Sun Devil Stadium (1971-2006) |
| Previous Locations |
Tempe, Arizona (1971-2006) |
| Operated |
1971-present |
| Conference Tie-ins |
Big 12 |
| Previous Conference Tie-ins |
WAC (1971-1978) |
| Payout |
US$17,000,000 (2006) |
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Fiesta Bowl History
Back in time on the late 1960s, the Western Athletic Conference was having problems obtaining a decent bowl invitation for their champions. The 1968 and 1969 champs Wyoming and Arizona State did not get invites those years. A year later, Arizona State (undefeated for 2 years) still had no invites and had to settle for a relatively more minor invite from the Peach Bowl.
After a rather slow start, the Fiesta Bowl has emerged as one of the major post-season games. Played in Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium, it originally pitted Arizona St. against an at-large rival in late December.
Attendance hovered around the 50,000 mark until the game moved to Jan. 1 after the 1981 season, when a Penn State-Southern California matches up drew more than 70,000. The Fiesta Bowl's major status was firmly established when it became a member of the Bowl Alliance in 1992.
The Fiesta Bowl was sponsored by the Sunkist Citrus Growers from 1986 through 1991 and by IBM OS/2 from 1993 through 1995. Since 1996, Frito-Lay Tostitos chips has sponsored the game.
On Jan. 4, 1999, the Fiesta Bowl hosted the first "national championship" game staged under the auspices of the Bowl Championship Series. It's also hosting the championship game in 2003, for the 2002 season.
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