Celebrating college football “together, but apart” will have a different type of local fanfare this year as the South Florida community watches the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl, the only NCAA-sanctioned collegiate bowl game played in Palm Beach County. While stadium seating has been significantly reduced to comply with strict COVID-19 protocols, annual Bowl-goers and fans of both teams can still view this year from their own home arena. Airing nationally on ESPN and ESPN Radio, as well as locally on ESPN 106.3 FM, the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl kicks off on this Tuesday, December 22 at 7 p.m. ET at FAU Stadium.
As fans prep to view the match-up of the UCF Knights from the American Athletic Conference and the FBS Independent BYU Cougars, here are the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Top “Watch Night Picks” to consider:
- Set a Game Plan Early: Even if it’s just hosting immediate family and friends from your “home” stands.
- Create a Fan Wave with an At-Home Tailgate and Watch Party: Decorate your “home field” with team colors, logos, photos of favorite players, etc. RoofclaimBocaRatonBowl.com and both team websites offer up plenty of inspiration. You can also set up a socially distanced tailgate in your driveway or backyard!
- Play Your Own Bowl Game: Visit RoofclaimBocaRatonBowl.com and the two team websites to create a competitive bowl trivia game. The bowl’s website also includes a Virtual Family Midway with pictures to color, polls and crossword puzzles for families to enjoy.
- Scout and Recruit Your Pre-Game Meal: Keep your team fed by ordering in your favorite tailgate food. Need suggestions? You can’t go wrong if you order from any of the restaurants and breweries who have participated in previous bowl events (i.e. chef tailgate competitions):
- Applebee’s® Neighborhood Grill + Bar
- Bazille at Nordstrom, Boca Raton
- Bolay
- Ceasar’s Famous Ribs
- Cheffrey Eats
- Cinnaholic Gourmet Cinnamon Rolls
- CWS Kitchen & Bar
- Harvest Seasonal Grill & Wine Bar
- Hijinks Sports Grill
- Hooters
- La Boulangerie Boul’Mich
- La Paella Chef
- Los Bocados
- Lynora’s
- Mazie’s
- Morton’s The Steakhouse
- Oceans 234
- Seasons 52
- The Locale
- The Loch Bar
- The Melting Pot
- True Food Kitchen
- Tucker Duke’s LunchboxTwin Peaks
- Breweries:
- Barrel of Monks Brewing
- Crazy Uncle Mike’s
- Due South Brewing Co
- Mad Robot Brewing Co
- Prosperity Brewer
- Serve Up Your Own Concessions: Now is the time to bring out the family cookbooks and search the internet for great tailgate and at-home entertaining recipes from celebrity chefs, popular restaurants, country clubs, hotels, cooking school chefs and brew masters who please the palates with signature twists on tailgate classics.
- Get on Bowl’s Own Social Media Jumbotron: Take pictures and videos of your watch party and tag @BocaBowl to get your post shared on the bowl’s official social media accounts.
Tickets to the 2020 RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl are no longer available. Due to pandemic protocols, the maximum allowable seats within FAU Stadium had already been decreased to 6,000 and those available tickets ran out quickly.
“I wish I could say yes to every fan who has reached out to me,” said RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl executive director Doug Mosley. “I especially feel for the people who’ve shared with me that they’ve been to all six of our previous games and this is the first one they would miss. From the beginning, though, I feared we’d never have enough tickets available when we had only 6,000 seats. We’re blessed with how our community has embraced this bowl game and I ask everyone to understand the circumstances under which we’re operating. We hope everyone still joins us from home by tuning in to ESPN on Tuesday at 7 p.m.”
About the Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
The RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl debuted in 2014 and has been well received in the community through its first six years. It has twice held the distinction of matching up two conference champions – Marshall University vs. Northern Illinois University (2014), and UAB vs. Northern Illinois (2018). In all, six conference champions and another three conference division champions have played in the game. Among the bowl’s alumni who have moved on to the NFL are current Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary (FAU, 2017) and Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott (Memphis, 2016).
For more information about the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl visit RoofClaimBocaRatonBowl.com.
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of 35 collegiate sporting events nationwide. The roster includes four early-season college football games, 17 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events, a college softball event and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 400 hours of live programming, reaches nearly 64 million viewers and attracts over 800,000 attendees each year. With satellite office in more than 10 markets across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conference, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.