The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game played annually in Birmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated by ESPN Events.^[2] The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) also provides marketing, management and game-day operations support. The game was previously known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl (2006–2010) and the BBVA Compass Bowl (2011–2014). TicketSmarter signed on as the title sponsor of the 2019 game, making it the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl.^[3] From its inception through 2020, the game was played at Legion Field; since the December 2021 game, it has been held at Protective Stadium.

The January 2021 edition of the bowl was cancelled due to an insufficient number of teams being available to fill all 2020–21 bowl games, following a season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

The bowl marked the return of post-season football to the city of Birmingham, which previously hosted the Dixie Bowl from 1947 to 1948, the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985 (which relocated to Tampa and became the Outback Bowl), and the All-American Bowl from 1986 to 1990 (which was canceled when the SEC Championship Game was awarded to the city).

In the inaugural edition of the bowl, played on December 23, 2006, the South Florida Bulls defeated the East Carolina Pirates, 24–7, in front of a crowd of 32,023.^[5] Running back Benjamin Williams of South Florida scored the bowl's first points on a 16-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game; he added a second touchdown during the first quarter and was named the game's MVP.

After being held in December for its first three years, the fourth edition of the bowl was played in January 2010. As a result, there was no game during the 2009 calendar year. The bowl was subsequently played in January through its ninth edition, held in January 2015. The tenth edition of the bowl saw a return to December, resulting in two editions of the bowl being played during calendar year 2015. The bowl remained in December through its 13th edition, held in December 2018. The 14th edition of the bowl was held in January 2020, thus there was no game during calendar year 2019.

The bowl was originally played at Legion Field, located west of central Birmingham. With construction of a new football stadium on the grounds of the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex closer to central Birmingham, the bowl was expected to move there.^[6] Since the December 2021 edition, the bowl has been played at Protective Stadium.^[7]

Rankings are from the AP Poll from before the game was played.

Source:^[16]

Source:^[16][17]

Updated through the December 2023 edition (17 games, 34 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won (8): Duke, Florida, Ole Miss, Rutgers, SMU, UConn, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest
Lost (7): Boston College, Coastal Carolina, Kentucky, NC State, Southern Miss, Texas Tech, Troy

Updated through the December 2023 edition (17 games, 34 total appearances).

• Games marked with an asterisk (*) were played in January of the following calendar year.
• Record for The American includes appearances of the Big East Conference, as The American retains the charter of the original Big East, following its 2013 realignment. Teams representing the Big East appeared in seven games, compiling a 5–2 record.

Source:^[18]

Except for the first two editions of the bowl, which were televised on ESPN2, the bowl has been televised on ESPN.^[19]