Cigar Bowl

The Cigar Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game held in Tampa, Florida, featuring small college teams. The nine editions of the bowl were held from January 1947 (following the 1946 season) through December 1954 (following the 1954 season).

Cigar Bowl (defunct)
StadiumPhillips Field
LocationTampa, Florida
Operated1947–1954
Sponsors

History

The Cigar Bowl was played at Phillips Field,[1][2] which was located across the Hillsborough River from downtown Tampa at the current site of Tampa Preparatory School and Julian Lane Riverfront Park. The bowl's name was inspired by the local cigar industry, which had been a major factor in Tampa's growth around the turn of the 20th century.

The Cigar Bowl marked the first bowl appearances for the Florida State Seminoles (following the 1949 season) and the Tampa Spartans (following the 1952 season). Three editions of the bowl were played in December (1951, 1952, 1954), while the rest were played in January. In some years, the game was part of a month-long "sports circus" in Tampa, with college basketball, golf, and tennis tournaments scheduled around the area along with horse racing and boxing.[3]

The Cigar Bowl itself was sponsored by the local Egypt Temple Shrine as a fundraising event.[4] After a few years, the limited capacity of Phillips Field (20,000 with temporary bleachers) and the rising cost of hosting the contest caused the organization to rethink its sponsorship. The Shriners discontinued support in 1955, and the bowl folded.[5] There were several attempts to revive the game as a major bowl in subsequent years, but the lack of a larger venue—Tampa Stadium did not open until November 1967[6]—made drawing top college teams impossible.[7] Tampa next hosted a college bowl game in 1986, when the Hall of Fame Bowl (later renamed the Outback Bowl) relocated from Birmingham, Alabama.

Game results
DateWinnerLoserReference
January 1, 1947Delaware21Rollins7[8]
January 1, 1948Missouri Valley26West Chester7[9][10][11][12]
January 1, 1949Missouri Valley13St. Thomas (MN)13[13]
January 2, 1950Florida State19Wofford6[14]
January 1, 1951La Crosse State47Valparaiso14[15]
December 29, 1951Brooke Army Medical Center20Camp Lejeune0[16]
December 13, 1952Tampa21Lenoir–Rhyne12[17]
January 1, 1954Missouri Valley12La Crosse State12[18]
December 17, 1954Tampa21Morris Harvey0[19]

See also

References
  1. The Evening Independent – Google News Archive Search
  2. Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Google News Archive Search
  3. "St. Petersburg Times". Google News Archive Search. 7 September 1947. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  4. "History of the Egypt Shrine". Archived from the original on 2010-11-22. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
  5. Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Google News Archive Search
  6. "Timeline". tampasportsauthority.com. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  7. Tampa Bay Football History Network – Outback Bowl Prologue Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Blue Hens trip Rollins, 21–7, in Cigar Bowl". The Morning News. January 2, 1947. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Hollingsworth, Byron (January 1, 1948). "Vikings Meet Rams In Cigar Bowl Game". Tampa Morning Tribune. Tampa, Florida. p. 11. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  10. Hollingsworth, Byron (January 2, 1948). "Vikings Overpower Rams In Cigar Bowl, 26-7". Tampa Morning Tribune. Tampa, Florida. p. 21. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  11. Hollingsworth, Byron (January 2, 1948). "Vikings Roll Over Rams in Cigar Bowl Contest, 26-7 (continued)". Tampa Morning Tribune. Tampa, Florida. p. 23. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  12. "Missouri Valley blasts West Chester Teachers, 26–7, in Cigar Bowl game". Intelligencer Journal. January 2, 1948. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Missouri Valley, St. Thomas battle to 13–13 tie: Second half touchdowns bring deadlock". Tampa Bay Times. Associated Press. January 2, 1949. p. 28. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Wofford upset by Florida State in Shrine Cigar Bowl, 19–6". The Greenville News. January 3, 1950. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "LaCrosse drops Valpo in Cigar Bowl, 47–14". The Indianapolis Star. January 2, 1951. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Brooke Comets wallop Lejeune Marines, 20–0, in Cigar Bowl battle". The Tampa Tribune. December 30, 1951. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Lenoir–Rhyne bows to Tampa in bowl tilt". Asheville Citizen-Times. December 14, 1952. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "LSC, MV in 12–12 Cigar Bowl tie". The La Crosse Tribune. January 2, 1954. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Spartans beat Eagles in Cigar Bowl, 21–0". The Tampa Tribune. December 18, 1954. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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