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The CW continues its live sports push under new majority shareholder Nexstar, bringing back the legendary tradition of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Dre and Snoop with Gin & Juice.
Now in its 10th year, the game will feature two bowl-eligible teams from the Mountain West Conference and the Mid-American Conference, and The CW will broadcast the game live from Arizona Stadium in Tucson on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 28.
Last year's game was sponsored by Barstool Sports, and while it's common in college football for bowl games to rotate through different sponsors even when the game is played at a specific location, the new brand name is certainly too long.
The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams this season, and ESPN and Turner Sports will broadcast those games, with an emphasis on bowl games to determine national champions.
While the Arizona Bowl may not be a sports highlight, college football telecasts across the country tend to be high-viewership, especially when compared to previous CW shows. The 2023 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl, which aired on The CW last year, drew more than 1.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, ranking in the top three for both total viewers and adults 18-49 among the network's telecasts over the past two years.
After Nexstar bought The CW in 2022, with its previous 50-50 partners Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global each taking a 12.5% stake, the network expanded into weekend timeslots where affiliates used to run infomercials. The emphasis on sports is central to a new strategy to make The CW profitable by 2025.
“The CW continues to deliver exciting sports content and we are thrilled to bring the Arizona Bowl back to the show in December,” CW president Dennis Miller said in a press release. “With the star power of Snoop Dogg adding excitement to what promises to be an action-packed football show, we look forward to drawing an even bigger audience this year.”
Snoop Dogg said the fact that The CW is “in nearly every home in America” makes it “the perfect place for fans to watch our shows.”
