The Liberty Flames received a berth to the Fiesta Bowl as the top ranked Group of Five Conference Champion. The Flames will play Pac-12 runner-up Oregon at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on January 1 with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
The Fiesta Bowl is a New Year’s Six Bowl game, along with the Peach Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl. A non-playoff New Year’s Six bowl game – like the Fiesta Bowl – comes with a significant payout for the teams and conferences involved.
Here’s a look at the windfall for Liberty and CUSA:
- A conference will receive $4 million for each team that plays in a non-playoff New Year’s Six bowl.
- Each conference whose team participates in a playoff semifinal, Cotton, Fiesta, or peach Bowl, or in the national championship game, will receive $2.74 million to cover expenses for each game.
Compare that to some of the payouts Liberty received as an FBS Independent in the other bowl games it played in. For example, the Cure Bowl reportedly came with a payout of approximately $570,000.
The exposure the program will receive from this experience is immeasurable. Last year’s New Year’s Six Bowl games all had at least 4 million people watch the game and that number grew to over 10 million depending on the NY6 bowl last year. The Fiesta Bowl will undoubtedly bring more eye balls on the Liberty brand than ever before seen.
