How Chick-fil-A, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, and Duke’s Mayo Score Big During College Football Bowl Season

When the Minnesota and Virginia Tech football teams meet in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 3, the winning coach may want to have a change of clothes handy, as tradition calls for the customary Gatorade bath after the final whistle to get replaced by a vat of Duke’s Mayo. In Boise, for the December 23 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, it's a batch of freshly made French fries. Sometimes, of course, the winners get to eat, such as after the Pop-Tarts Bowl on December 28 in Orlando, when the winning team chooses which flavor of the bowl’s “edible mascot” players devour.

These stunts and plenty more — let’s not forget Cheez-It hosting a themed wedding officiated by mascot Ched-Z during the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl — have come to help define the college football bowl season, now up to 47 postseason or bowl games, with seven of those featuring a food-related title sponsor.

Bowl games began in 1902 in California with what is now known as the Rose Bowl. Sponsorships have been present every step of the way, with the Tournament of Roses sponsoring the first-ever game. Sponsorships continued to grow as the bowl slate slowly gained momentum, even if early bowls were named to tie to regions—such as the Citrus Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Sun Bowl. Quite likely, the first-ever food tie-in came in 1983 when the Florida Citrus Growers Association sponsored the Citrus Bowl.

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By the 1980s and 1990s, though, bowls began to really lean in on corporate sponsorships. Soon, bowl games became as much about business as football. ESPN now owns 17 of the games, often created with title sponsors as the bowl’s name — lead sponsors can range from around $500,000 all the way to over $20 million, depending on the prestige and draw — to create a marketable commodity of a sporting event during holiday weeks when many sports fans are off school and work and ready for live sports.

While bowls differ in clout, some have decades of sponsorship history. Food has been a part of that all along, with the longest-running sponsorship affiliation the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, a partnership that started in 1997 and lasts today. But the January 1 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is just one of seven this year with a food tie-in — joined by the December 17 Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, the December 23 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the December 28 Pop-Tarts Bowl, the December 31 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, the December 31 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl and the January 3 Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Edible Pop-Tarts mascots

Iowa State and Miami may have different tastes in Pop-Tarts, but we’ll never know as the winners are the only team choosing between three “edible mascots” to consume upon winning the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando.

This year — the second year of the bowl game and edible mascot tradition — Pop-Tarts revealed the Frosted Cinnamon Roll flavor as a third edible mascot alongside Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae and Frosted Wild Berry. To tie to the game, the once-discontinued Frosted Cinnamon Roll also makes a “hyper-limited” return to shelves nationwide.

Pop-Tarts owner Kellanova has created an entire content machine around the edible mascot craze, setting up a YouTube channel and inviting fans to vote for their favorite. In the end, the game’s MVP will choose which edible mascot gets eaten, although fan voting throughout the game may help sway the player.

There are plenty of Pop-Tarts for fans, too. The in-stadium concessions feature Pop-Tarts PB&J Pretzels, Hot Fudge Pop-Tarts Waffle Cone Bowl Sundaes, Boston Crème and Strawberry Trifles, and End Zone Celebration Strawberry Pop-Tarts Cheesecakes.

Duke’s Mayo stunts

Duke’s Mayo Bowl has been making a splash — well, more like a glob — in Charlotte, North Carolina. The winning coach sits under a bucket of Duke’s Mayo, having it dumped on his head in lieu of Gatorade, a tradition that started in 2021 one year after the first bowl game sponsored by the company.

Each year before the two teams play, Duke’s Mayo contacts the coaches to ask if they’d be willing to participate in the mayo dump if they win (the company sweetens the ask by offering to donate to a charity of the coach’s choice). So far, no coach has declined the offer.

A Duke’s Mayo spokesperson tells Food & Wine that this isn’t a watered-down version, but five gallons of the brand’s real mayo — not a flavored variety — that gets stirred for five minutes with a broomstick until it drips, much to the delight of the players on the winning team.

To lean into all things “absurdity” around the bowl, the Tubby mascot surprises fans throughout the game and the Duke’s Sauce Shack — a regular staple at Bank of America Stadium — serves up dishes with Duke’s mayo and sauces. The most popular dish is the pulled pork with Duke’s Carolina Gold BBQ sauce. 

Cheez-Its aplenty

Eating Cheez-Its is one thing, but getting married by Cheez-It mascot Ched-Z will become a reality at the December 31 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando. One of three bowl games sponsored by Kellanova — owners of Cheez-It, Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger mascot and Pop-Tarts — this one features a two-minute timeout wedding during the game, with the Ched-Z mascot officiating the end zone nuptials.

“We’re not just celebrating college football this bowl season, we’re celebrating the joy of obsessed fans living out their dreams—no matter how absurd—and of course giving them a ‘cheezy’ twist,” Cara Tragseller, senior brand director for Cheez-It, says in a statement provided to Food & Wine.

Cheez-It is going all in on fans “feelin’ the cheeziest” by inviting submissions of their own “fantaseez.” With the help of reality TV star Kordell Beckham as the brand’s chief fantaseez officer, Cheez-It plans to make these dreams realities for both in-stadium fans and those watching from home. Of course, if having Ched-Z marry people isn’t enough, there’s plenty more planned, including one fan reporting on the game-day antics from the sidelines while inside the world’s largest bowl of Cheez-It crackers, a 47-inch-tall and 72-inch-wide bowl filled with Original-flavored crackers.

For fans wanting a taste of Cheez-It, the venue offers the Swicy Cheez-It Bird Dog chicken tenders, Loaded Cheez-It Brisket Potato Skins, Hot Honey & Cheez-It Pepperoni Pizza, Loaded Chili Cheez-It Crunch Dog, Cheez-It Pimento Cheez & Bacon Burger, Walking Cheez-It Nachos, and Mac and Cheez-It Nachos.

Outside the stadium, the Cheez Wheelz Food Truck, which has appeared at football games throughout the year, will be on-site serving Cheez-It Extra Cheez-burgers, Chili Cheez-It Dogs, and a Cheezy Pickle Dip.

All About potatoes

Since 2011, the Idaho Potato Commission has sponsored this Boise-based bowl played on the blue artificial turf at Albertsons Stadium. While an effort to advertise what Idaho does more of than any other state — produce potatoes — that marketing effort gets a splash when the winning coach gets a Gatorade-sized bucket of freshly made French fries dumped on him at the end of the game.

The potato theme is everywhere, with the midfield logo a giant basked potato, the mascot the Spuddy Buddy and the trophy a bowl filled with potatoes. Add in that Simplot fries up a free French fry feed in the fan zone on site before the game starts and the potatoes keep flowing in Boise. 

Chick-fil-A and football

Chicken reigns supreme inside and outside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 1, 2025. Chick-fil-A has been the title sponsor of the game since 1997, making it the longest-running sponsorship in the college football bowl season.

A Chick-fil-A spokesperson tells Food & Wine they expect to have new marketing activations meant to bring chicken-filled hospitality to fans traveling in for the game, which this year is part of the College Football Playoff. Each year Chick-fil-A hosts a fan night at the Georgia Aquarium before the game and a FanFest tailgate leading up to the game. During the contest, the brand’s mini moos surprise some fans with menu giveaways and free chicken sandwiches.

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