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The business of bowls: Corporate America and the bloated College Football Bowl season
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Dec 24, 2014
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The business of bowls: Corporate America and the bloated College Football Bowl season
Heard of the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl? You're not alone. 39 College Football Bowl games will be played this holiday season; and corporations are spending big bucks to sponsor.
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - JANUARY 01:  Quarterback EJ Manuel #3 of the Florida State Seminoles lines up on offense against the Northern Illinois Huskies defense during the Discover Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on January 1, 2013 in Miami Gardens, Florida.  (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** EJ Manuel
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - JANUARY 01: Quarterback EJ Manuel #3 of the Florida State Seminoles lines up on offense against the Northern Illinois Huskies defense during the Discover Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on January 1, 2013 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** EJ Manuel
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Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
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Heard of the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl? You're not alone. 39 College Football Bowl games will be played this holiday season; and corporations are spending big bucks to sponsor.

There will be 39 College Football Bowl games played this holiday season. 

That means 78 teams qualified for a Bowl game this year; but they only needed to beat out half their opponents to do so. In other words, in some of this year's bowls, we're not talking la crème de la crème.

Regardless, more and more every year, corporations are spending big bucks for bowl naming rights. And new bowls are popping up. Case in point: This year, the Ford Motor Company Quick Lane Bowl (the de facto replacement of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl), and the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. Never heard of these Bowl games? You're not alone.

Even most of the bowls regarded as American institutions have a new corporate stamp on them every few years.

Take the Gator Bowl, played in Jacksonville, Florida, since 1946. In 1986, it became the Mazda Gator Bowl. That sponsor contract lasted for five years until Outback Steakhouse took over. Then it was the Toyota Gator Bowl, the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, the Progressive Insurance Gator Bowl...and now it's just the Taxslayer Bowl -- as in Taxslayer.com.

So, how much does corporate America have to do with this expansion? What do corporate sponsors get in return for stamping their name on a Bowl -- especially a less-than-prestigious one?

Ralph Russo covers College Football for the Associated Press and he joins Take Two to answer these questions and more.