The Sun Bowl is college football's second-oldest bowl game, and its 93rd edition lands on one of the most memorable dates a bowl game can occupy: Wednesday, December 31, 2026, New Year's Eve. Kickoff is set for 12:00 PM Mountain time (2:00 PM ET) at Sun Bowl Stadium, 2701 Sun Bowl Dr, El Paso, TX 79902, on the UTEP campus, with the broadcast on CBS. That noon start means fans get a full afternoon of ACC vs Pac-12-legacy football and still have the entire El Paso New Year's Eve open in front of them — if they can solve the getting-around problem that comes with playing a bowl game on the busiest ride-demand night of the year.
A Bowl Tradition That Owns New Year's Eve in El Paso
Sun Bowl Stadium opened in 1963 and holds roughly 46,000 fans, tucked into the foothills of the Franklin Mountains a short drive from downtown El Paso and El Paso International Airport. It's one of the most scenic settings in college football, and the New Year's Eve slot has become a genuine tradition: the 92nd edition on December 31, 2025 drew Arizona State vs Duke, confirming that the noon-Mountain kickoff closing out the calendar year is now the expected rhythm of this game.
The 93rd edition also closes out the current ACC/Pac-12-legacy tie-ins, so the participating teams will be announced after Selection Sunday on December 6, 2026. One more change fans should know about: the title sponsorship changed on September 17, 2026, when Old El Paso replaced Tony the Tiger as title sponsor, announced at the Judson F. Williams Convention Center. Whatever the branding on the marquee, the product on the field — a Noon Mountain kickoff on CBS in the Sun City — stays the same.
The Full Game-Week Arc: From Thanksgiving Morning to New Year's Eve
The Sun Bowl is not a one-day event, and fans planning a trip should understand just how long the runway is. The game-week schedule runs across more than a month:
- Sun Bowl Parade — Thursday, November 26, 2026 (Thanksgiving morning). The 90th Annual Sun Bowl Parade steps off on Montana Avenue, running from Ochoa Street to Copia Street. It's a longtime El Paso tradition that pairs naturally with a holiday weekend.
- Selection Sunday — December 6, 2026. The matchup is officially set at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, just across the state line in New Mexico.
- Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational — December 20-21. Basketball takes over the Don Haskins Center, extending the Sun Bowl brand beyond football during the holidays.
- Kick Off Par-Tee — December 26, 2026. The week-of events begin at Topgolf El Paso.
- Sun Bowl Fan Golf Challenge and Cheer Camp — December 30, 2026. Golfers head to Butterfield Trail Golf Club while cheer programming runs at the El Paso Convention Center.
- Sun Bowl Fan Fiesta — December 30, 2026. The pep-rally-style celebration closes out December 30, the night before kickoff.
If you're flying in, note that the Fan Fiesta and Fan Golf Challenge land on December 30 — many out-of-town fans will arrive that day or earlier. The 2026 game itself closes out the current conference tie-ins, which gives this edition a bit of a send-off feel for the longtime ACC/Pac-12-legacy matchup.
Why Game Day Logistics Are Different When the Game Falls on New Year's Eve
Here's the reality of a December 31 bowl game: New Year's Eve is consistently one of the highest ride-demand nights of the year nationwide, and El Paso is no exception. When the final whistle blows mid-afternoon, thousands of fans will be looking for rides to restaurants, hotels, and holiday gatherings — the same moment the city's regular NYE demand kicks in. Rideshare pricing that spikes with demand means a postgame ride across town can cost several times what it would on an ordinary Wednesday, assuming you can get matched with a driver at all.
Parking adds its own layer. Sun Bowl Stadium sits on the UTEP campus along the Sun Bowl Drive and University corridor, and the lots around that corridor fill on game days even without a holiday layered on top. Add WinterFest crowds downtown and regular NYE traffic across the border region — El Paso, Las Cruces, and Ciudad Juarez all share the midnight moment — and driving yourself becomes the least attractive option on the board.
The fix is simple: pre-book your rides before you land, and don't leave any leg of the trip to same-day luck.
Landing at El Paso International Airport: Your First Mile
Most out-of-town fans will fly into El Paso International Airport, which sits a short drive from both downtown and the stadium. That short distance is a gift — but only if your ride is waiting. On a normal day, curbside pickups at ELP are straightforward. On December 30 and 31, with Fan Fiesta crowds arriving and NYE demand building, the usual first-come-first-served shuffle gets less predictable.
This is where a pre-booked private ride changes the experience. Texas Shuttle runs private, door-to-door airport service in El Paso, picking up from El Paso International Airport and taking you straight to your hotel — no shared rides with strangers, no waiting on a surge-matched driver, no surge pricing baked into the fare. Booking is available 24/7, and airport legs include flight tracking, so if your connecting flight into ELP runs late on the 30th, your pickup adjusts to your actual arrival rather than a guess.
Game Day: Hotel to Sun Bowl Stadium and Back
Sun Bowl Stadium's foothills setting in the Franklin Mountains is beautiful and slightly awkward — the venue sits above the UTEP campus, access funnels through the Sun Bowl Drive and University corridor, and the lots around that corridor fill early. A private drop-off puts you at the stadium entrance area without circling for parking, and a scheduled pickup after the game means you're not standing in a postgame crowd refreshing a rideshare app at 3:30 PM on New Year's Eve.
Because the noon kickoff ends mid-afternoon, the smart play is to build the whole evening into your plan: back to the hotel to drop gear, then out to dinner, then wherever you're watching the ball drop. A private vehicle booked for the day covers hotel-to-stadium, stadium-to-hotel, and the postgame dinner run as separate scheduled legs — one vehicle, one driver standard, no re-hailing between stops.
Making a Night of It: New Year's Eve in the Sun City
The noon kickoff is a feature, not a bug. With the game wrapped by mid-afternoon, fans have the full El Paso NYE in front of them: WinterFest lights and downtown festivities, dinner in any of the city's neighborhoods, or even a cross-border celebration — El Paso, Las Cruces, and Ciudad Juarez all ring in the new year within a short drive of Sun Bowl Stadium. The catch, again, is transportation: this is the one night of the year when relying on on-demand rides is the riskiest bet you can make. Book your evening legs at the same time you book your airport pickup, and the whole night runs on your schedule.
How Pricing Works for a Private Shuttle
Private door-to-door service prices differently from the per-seat shared models most travelers expect. Rates are quoted as a per-vehicle total, not per person — so a group of fans splitting a vehicle splits one total, which often makes the private option the better value for families and travel parties. Live rates display before you book, so you see the actual number for your route and vehicle before committing.
There are two ways to save, depending on your trip shape. Round-trip bookings save 10% each way — the natural fit for an airport pickup on December 30 paired with a return drop-off after New Year's. Traveling one way? A promo code, ONLINE, takes 10% off one-way trips. Either way, the fare you're quoted upfront is the fare — no surge multipliers, no holiday-night surprises, because pricing isn't tied to demand the way rideshare is.
Plan Your Ride
The 93rd Sun Bowl hands you an unusually clean itinerary: parade on Thanksgiving morning, Selection Sunday on December 6, the Fan Fiesta on December 30, and a noon kickoff on New Year's Eve that frees up the whole evening. The only complicated part is movement — airport to hotel, hotel to the foothills of the Franklin Mountains, stadium to dinner, dinner to midnight. Book those legs in advance with Texas Shuttle's private door-to-door service and every one of them runs on a schedule you set, with flight tracking on your airport leg, no shared rides, no surge pricing, and 24/7 booking whether you're planning from home or adjusting plans from a hotel room in the Sun City. Reserve your rides before you fly, and the only thing left to think about on December 31 is football.
Planning more of the trip? El Paso airport shuttle El Paso airport shuttle guide El Paso WinterFest shuttle guide San Antonio New Year's Eve Hemisfair shuttle guide Dallas New Year's Eve Reunion Tower shuttle guide North Texas December bowl games shuttle guide.