The Rose Bowl is one of the most famous football games played anywhere in the world. It benefits from being featured among several other events that elevate the visibility of the game, as well as a massive stadium that holds more than 100,000 people. The Rose Bowl game is typically played on New Year's Day every year, except for Sundays, in which case the game is then played on the following Monday.
General History
The Rose Bowl game first occurred in 1902, when Michigan routed Stanford 49-0. No Rose Bowl took place again until 1916, from which time the game has been played every year. Ever since the early years of the Rose Bowl, teams have earned appearances in the game through the conferences for which they play. The Pacific Coast Conference champion was often invited to play in the game, and after World War II the Big 9 -- later to be the Big 10 -- forged an agreement to send its champion to face the PCC and later Pac-10 champion in the Rose Bowl. This is still the arrangement today, with one exception: If one of the champions of these leagues is selected to play in the national title game, an at-large team may appear in the Rose Bowl.
Tournament of Roses
The Rose Bowl has become the best-known event in a celebration known as the "Tournament of Roses." The Tournament of Roses was begun in 1890 by the Valley Hunt Club, a group based in Pasadena that wanted to promote the "Mediterranean of the West" to the people of the East Coast. Events included chariot races, jousting and polo. This eventually came to also feature the Parade of Roses and the Rose Bowl.
Common Participants
The University of Southern California, which has played in the Pac-10 and Pac-8 conferences for much of its history, leads all teams in the number of Rose Bowl appearances as well as Rose Bowl wins, with 33 appearances and 24 victories. This is a high-win percentage, likely aided by the fact that the Rose Bowl stadium is also USC's home field during the regular season. Behind USC is Michigan, with 20 appearances and eight wins, and Washington and Ohio State, each with 14 appearances and seven victories.
Sponsors and Payouts
Every bowl game in college football has a certain payout that each participating team receives. The Rose Bowl is one of the five largest bowls and features one of the highest payouts of any bowl -- as recently as 2010, the payout was $18 million to each team. Television deals help generate this money, as do the official sponsorships of the Rose Bowl. The four major sponsors of the Rose Bowl since 1999 include AT&T, Sony/Playstation 2 and Citi. In 2011, Vizio took over as the latest official sponsor.
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