Comedian Jimmy Kimmel once made a joke that he was the first human in history to have a postseason bowl game named after him in major college football.

He was technically correct: The old John Hancock Bowl in El Paso was named after an insurance company, not the guy with the large signature on the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

But the “Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl” in Los Angeles County was also quite different for another reason:

Kimmel didn’t pay the game money to put his name on it, unlike all of those companies that paid to have bowl games named after themselves or their products, including the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando and the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl in Texas.  

The same goes for former NFL star Rob Gronkowski, who recently replaced Kimmel as host of the same game, now called the “Starco Brands LA Bowl hosted by Gronk" set for Saturday night on ABC.

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Gronk’s name is in the game’s title, but he didn’t pay for it, either, as confirmed by LA Bowl game officials.

How could that be when bowl naming rights are so valuable?

The reason for this is a unique reverse-naming-rights deal of sorts, where the name of this game is marketing and trying to stand out in a postseason filled with 42 major-college postseason games starting Saturday. Putting celebrity names in the game’s title helps the LA Bowl do that and more, especially in the entertainment capital of the world, where a game between UCLA (7-5) and Boise State (8-5) might not move the needle much otherwise.

“Since most bowl games have evolved into media and sponsor creations rather than always being based on athletic prowess, I’d expect to see more of this type of non-traditional alliance down the road,” said David Carter, sports business professor at the University of Southern California.

That could be especially true starting next year, when the College Football Playoff expands from four to 12 teams, making it even harder for lower-tier bowl games like this to attract attention.

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What’s in a bowl game name? Lots of exposure

Usually, even a minor bowl game can charge at least $300,000 from a company that wants to put its name in the game’s title and get it on national television. For example, in 2018, the government of Elk Grove Village near Chicago paid $300,000 to put its marketing slogan in the name of the Bahamas Bowl, resulting in the “Makers Wanted” Bahamas Bowl. The goal was to get people to Google the slogan and attract manufacturers (“makers”) to its industrial park next to O’Hare International Airport.

It worked. Within a day after the deal was announced in 2018, the village received $3.6 million in publicity value from it, according to a marketing study. ESPN broadcast the game and was required to use the name “Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl” in all on-air references, as well as airing commercials for the village during the game.

“You couldn’t have afforded to buy what we got,” the village’s mayor, Craig Johnson, told USA TODAY Sports that year.

Bowl games with bigger television audiences can command millions of dollars for title sponsorships for similar reasons.

But in this case, LA Bowl officials confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that neither Kimmel nor Gronkowski paid for the right to have his name in the game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. They declined to say whether the bowl game paid either of them for their promotional involvement in the game. Even if they didn’t, Kimmel and Gronkowski at least got compensated in another respect – they benefit from the exposure that comes with having their names in the game, just like Duke’s mayonnaise does with the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte.

What did Kimmel and Gronkowski get out of it?

For Kimmel, the game served as a quirky extension of his television show, also televised by ABC, which wanted to maximize viewership for both programs. Kimmel talked about the game on his show and even played the clarinet with the Oregon State marching band during the inaugural LA Bowl in 2021. But ABC did not pay for the naming rights, either, the bowl confirmed.

In Gronkowski’s case, he works for ABC rival Fox Sports, but his family’s businesses, Gronk Fitness and Ice Shaker, partnered with the bowl game for promotional exposure. Being on TV on Saturday night boosts his own brand and social media followings.

“This helps him parlay and grow his reach in college sports,” said Tracie Jackson, senior director of marketing at SoFi Stadium, which owns and operates the bowl game.

On game day, Gronkowski is scheduled to sing the national anthem, do the pregame coin toss, dance with mascots and interact with the crowd.

Also, “he’s actually going to race the Boise State dog, so that will be interesting,” Jackson said. “And he’s determined to win.”

A representative for Kimmel said nobody from his business team was available to discuss the topic. Messages seeking comment from Gronkowski to discuss the business arrangement were not returned.

What does the LA Bowl get out of it?

Naming-rights deals have been a staple of the bowl industry for more than 35 years, at least dating to the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl and the SeaWorld Holiday Bowl in the 1980s. It is one of three main sources of revenue for bowl games, along with television-rights fees and ticket sales – revenue that helps provide payouts for participating teams and sometimes lucrative compensation for the people in charge.

In this case, the LA Bowl does have a traditional title sponsor to help pay the bills: Starco Brands, a consumer-products company.  Before Kimmel’s two-year run as the game’s host expired, the game also had a traditional sponsor in the title and was called the “Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl presented By Stifel,” a financial company.

Yet the game still felt the need to differentiate itself from the crowd. Instead of using the game’s name only to generate revenue, why not use it to also increase the marketing scale of the game by attaching a celebrity to it as a host? That was the idea.

“Our bowl committee was looking for ways to make a first-time bowl game stand out,” said Chris Sloan, head of global partnerships at SoFi Stadium. “No one has put a host’s name associated with the game, and Jimmy being on national television five nights a week was a great thing for us to start with.”

'Bowl games are about branding'

Besides adding entertainment to the game, Kimmel and Gronkowski also served as influencers for the game on social media to drum up interest and increase exposure for other sponsors. Gronk has more than 4.8 million followers on Instagram and has been using his account to promote the game. The bowl said that it has had over 3.1 million impressions on social media since the announcement of Gronkowski as host in October.

Last year, the game drew 32,000 in attendance and about 2.3 million in linear television viewership, both of which could be considered solid numbers for a game in which Fresno State (10-4) beat Washington State (7-6), 29-6.

“Bowl games are about branding and business development, whether linked to corporations or, in this case, individuals,” said Carter, the sports business professor. “Cross-promotional opportunities exist when high-profile celebrities attach their names to these bowls, even if the return on their time and energy is modest given the status of the game. Leveraging their legions of fans to at least consider the game – one lacking national appeal – is a win in and of itself and for both entities.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]