Poinsettia Bowl gets canceled, BYU looks for new post-season partner

BYU will be looking for a new bowl game for the 2018 season as the Poinsettia Bowl will no longer be played.

In a press release posted to the San Diego Bowl Game Association website, the group decided to consolidate the Holiday and Poinsettia Bowls to focus on just one bowl game.

“College football and the bowl game structure has gone through major changes through the years and our board feels the time is right to focus our efforts on one post-season game,” said Mark Neville, executive director of the San Diego Bowl Game Association. “The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl staged exciting match-ups for more than a decade and we were one of the few cities to host two bowl games.”

Prior to the announcement, BYU had an agreement in place to play in the 2018 Poinsettia Bowl. With the cancellation of the game the Cougars will be free agents in the bowl market unless for both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. They do have an agreement with the Hawaii Bowl to play in that game if BYU is bowl eligible.

Tom Holmoe responded to the cancellation of the Poinsettia Bowl with this tweet.

This change comes on the heels of the San Diego Chargers moving north to Los Angeles and vacating the antiquated Qualcomm Stadium. Without a permanent tenant to help with upkeep, the Bowl Commission said they will likely make the move to Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres.

“For now we plan to continue producing the Holiday Bowl and its one-of-a-kind fan experience in Qualcomm Stadium,” said Neville. “However, Petco Park could one day serve as the ideal home for the Holiday Bowl. It’s certainly a tremendous venue with world-class amenities that our fans would enjoy.”

The removal of a bowl game will most likely sit well with those who have been clamoring for fewer post-season games. However this might open the window for another market, like Chicago, to make a deal with ESPN for a game.