Pop-Tarts Bowl Tickets

The Pop-Tarts Bowl in brief

The Pop-Tarts Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The 2026 game is scheduled for Tuesday, December 29, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. It will be the 37th edition of the bowl and the 26th played in Orlando.

The matchup comes from conference tie-ins (contracts that reserve a bowl slot for a conference's teams). The bowl takes the top ACC team outside the College Football Playoff and the second Big 12 team outside the playoff, which places it among the more prominent non-playoff games of the bowl season. The 2026 game is the 13th straight season of ACC against Big 12, and the Big 12 enters having won three in a row. Teams are announced on December 6, and public ticket sales open after selection.

The game is run by Florida Citrus Sports, a not-for-profit event organization that also stages the Citrus Bowl at the same stadium a few days later.

Camping World Stadium in 2026: layout, renovation and where to sit

Camping World Stadium opened in 1936 as Orlando Stadium and is owned by the City of Orlando. It sits in the West Lakes neighborhood just west of downtown. Before its current renovation it seated about 60,000 for football.

What the renovation means for the 2026 game

The stadium is in the middle of a 400-million-dollar renovation scheduled for completion in 2027. The project rebuilds the upper seating bowl with new chairback seats and expands the terrace-level concourses, and both the bowl and the stadium say the 2026 game will be played at reduced capacity. The lower bowl was rebuilt in 2014 with about 41,000 chairback seats, so it is the most reliable part of the building this season. Expect some upper sections to be unavailable, and buy from the seating that is actually listed for the event.

How the sections run

The field runs north to south. One shade guide places the east sideline in field sections 103–113, plaza sections P02–P14 and terrace sections 201–215, and the west sideline in field sections 129–139, plaza sections P28–P40 and terrace sections 227–241.

Seat judgment for this game

• Sun does not matter. Orlando's late-December sunset comes close to the 5:30 p.m. kickoff, so nearly the entire game is played under the lights. Choose for sightlines, not shade.
• Best overall: lower-level sideline seats between the 20-yard lines, about 15 rows up or higher, which clears the bench area and the sideline crowd.
• Best height: the plaza sections on either sideline give a raised view without the distance of the upper levels.
• Which sideline: with no sun factor, pick the side nearer your team's fans if the atmosphere matters to you; the sightlines are mirror images.
• End zones: lower-level end zone seats are the lowest-demand option and work well for watching red-zone plays up close.

The edible mascot and other traditions

Pop-Tarts took over the title sponsorship in 2023 and turned the postgame into a stunt. That year the bowl introduced Strawberry, a large costumed Pop-Tart billed as the first edible mascot. After the game it was lowered into a giant toaster, and an edible replica was presented to the winning players. The trophy itself was redesigned with two Pop-Tart slots on top of a metallic football.

• 2024: fans voted among three flavors, and Cinnamon Roll won the mascot role. The trophy became a working toaster weighing 77 pounds.
• 2025: fans of the winning team chose which mascots would be toasted.

The toasting happens on the field after the trophy presentation, so stay in your seats if you want to see it.

History, from Miami to Orlando

The game was first played in 1990 in Miami Gardens as the Blockbuster Bowl. The inaugural game, Florida State against Penn State on December 28, 1990, drew 74,021, still the bowl's attendance record. After the 2000 game, Florida Citrus Sports took over the bowl and moved it to Orlando starting in 2001.

Naming-sponsor history

Few bowls have changed names as often. The game has been the Blockbuster Bowl (1990–1993), Carquest Bowl (1994–1997), MicronPC Bowl (1998–2000), Tangerine Bowl under Visit Florida and then Mazda (2001–2003), Champs Sports Bowl (2004–2011), Russell Athletic Bowl (2012–2016), Camping World Bowl (2017–2019), Cheez-It Bowl (2020–2022) and Pop-Tarts Bowl (2023 to present).

Recent results

• Florida State 35, Oklahoma 32 (2022), before a crowd of 61,520
• Kansas State 28, NC State 19 (2023)
• Iowa State 42, Miami 41 (2024); Miami's 41 points set a bowl record for a losing team
• BYU 25, Georgia Tech 21 (2025)

Demand and timing

Crowds for this game swing widely with the matchup. A Florida-based ACC team, or a program with a large traveling fan base, can push attendance past 60,000, as Florida State and Oklahoma did in 2022. Two schools far from Florida draw closer to 31,000 to 39,000, the range of the last three games. In 2026, reduced capacity adds a new variable: fewer seats can tighten the market even with an average matchup.

• December 6 selection: the biggest repricing moment, when the teams are announced.
• Holiday week: the game falls between Christmas and New Year's, when Orlando is full of theme-park visitors and hotel demand is high. Book lodging early.
• Premium sideline seats in the lower bowl tend to go first; end zones and corners usually remain available into game week.

Every GoodSeats order comes with guaranteed entry.

Getting there, parking and bag rules

Camping World Stadium sits just west of downtown Orlando. Drivers coming on Interstate 4 eastbound typically exit at John Young Parkway, and westbound drivers at Colonial Drive. The stadium uses more than a dozen lots (lettered A–G and numbered 1–10), though not every lot opens for every event, and Lot 6 is set aside for accessible parking. Parking fees apply, and tailgating is allowed in most lots, without kegs or tents larger than 10 by 10 feet.

• Shuttle: for some events the stadium runs a free shuttle from downtown, picking up on Central Boulevard between Garland and Hughey Avenues and dropping off near Gate A. Confirm it is running for the bowl.
• Bus: LYNX bus routes 20, 21 and 36 serve the stadium area.
• Re-entry: the stadium has a no re-entry policy.

Bag policy

As of fall 2026, the stadium's published policy allows clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bags up to 14 by 14 by 6 inches, slightly different from the 12 by 6 by 12 inch rule at many NFL stadiums, plus one-gallon clear freezer bags. Backpacks, coolers, umbrellas and rigid seat cushions are prohibited. Check the stadium's A–Z guide before you go, since policies can change during construction.

Sources

• Pop-Tarts Bowl – 2026 game announcement
• Florida Citrus Sports – 2026-27 schedule at Camping World Stadium
• Florida Citrus Sports – Stadium renovation
• Camping World Stadium – Pop-Tarts Bowl 2026
• Camping World Stadium – A to Z Guide
• Camping World Stadium – Directions and Parking
• Wikipedia – Pop-Tarts Bowl
• Wikipedia – Camping World Stadium
• Shaded Seats – Camping World Stadium