TAXSLAYER BOWL

The "TaxSlayer Bowl" is an annual college football bowl game played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally named the Gator Bowl, it has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nationally. TaxSlayer.com became the title sponsor in 2011 and the bowl took its current name in 2014 after a new contract. The bowl is operated by Gator Bowl Sports and will be played on January 2 starting in 2015. According to writer Anthony C. DiMarco, Charles Hilty, Sr. first conceived of the event. Hilty, together with Ray McCarthy, Maurice Cherry, and W. C. Ivey, put up $10,000 to underwrite the first game, which was held at Jacksonville's football stadium, Fairfield Stadium, on January 1, 1946. The first two years of the event did not sell out the small capacity stadium, drawing only 7,362 to the 1946 match when the Wake Forest Demon Deacons defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks, 26