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AutoZone will remain the title sponsor of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl through 2031, the bowl's associate executive director Harold Graeter confirmed to The Commercial Appeal.
The Memphis-based Fortune 500 company — the nation's largest retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories — became the bowl game's title sponsor in 2004, replacing AXA Financial. FedEx Corp., based in Memphis, along with Penzoil will serve as presenting sponsors.
The 68th edition of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT on Jan. 2, 2027 on ABC. College football's seventh-oldest bowl game (first played in 1959), has had affiliations with the SEC and Big 12, while the American can fill one of the slots if the SEC does not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all its bowl slots. That was the case for the 2026 game, when Navy beat Cincinnati 35-13 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
The 2027 bowl game will be played inside a fully renovated Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The stadium has been undergoing renovations for the past two seasons, which has meant reduced capacity for Memphis football games and the Liberty Bowl.
AutoZone reupping its longstanding title sponsorship with the Liberty Bowl comes as the College Football Playoff's expansion to 24 teams continues to gain momentum. Should that happen, more changes to the bowl system could follow.
Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart has expressed optimism about game's future.
"There will be some changes," Ehrhart told The Commercial Appeal in January. "But I think we have those ingredients, a lot of other bowls don't."
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected], follow him @munzly on X.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: AutoZone extends Liberty Bowl title sponsorship through 2031
Continue reading...
The Memphis-based Fortune 500 company — the nation's largest retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories — became the bowl game's title sponsor in 2004, replacing AXA Financial. FedEx Corp., based in Memphis, along with Penzoil will serve as presenting sponsors.
The 68th edition of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT on Jan. 2, 2027 on ABC. College football's seventh-oldest bowl game (first played in 1959), has had affiliations with the SEC and Big 12, while the American can fill one of the slots if the SEC does not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all its bowl slots. That was the case for the 2026 game, when Navy beat Cincinnati 35-13 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
The 2027 bowl game will be played inside a fully renovated Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The stadium has been undergoing renovations for the past two seasons, which has meant reduced capacity for Memphis football games and the Liberty Bowl.
AutoZone reupping its longstanding title sponsorship with the Liberty Bowl comes as the College Football Playoff's expansion to 24 teams continues to gain momentum. Should that happen, more changes to the bowl system could follow.
Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart has expressed optimism about game's future.
"There will be some changes," Ehrhart told The Commercial Appeal in January. "But I think we have those ingredients, a lot of other bowls don't."
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected], follow him @munzly on X.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: AutoZone extends Liberty Bowl title sponsorship through 2031
Continue reading...
