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 The first Sun Bowl game was played on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 1935, as a fund-raising event for the El Paso Kiwanis Club. The club was seeking to raise money for underprivileged children and to finance improvements to the El Paso High School Stadium, the site of the first game. The game featured a team comprised of El Paso high school all-stars against the Ranger (Texas) High School Bulldogs. The All-Stars came from behind in the third quarter and held on in the fourth for an exciting 25-21 victory over the 1934 state runner-ups.
The success of that first game resulted in the founding of the Sun Bowl Association, whose threefold purpose was to present an annual football attraction of national importance, to promote El Paso and the Southwest, and to generate tourist income for the area. The public was invited to suggest a name for the game. Dr. C. M. Hendricks, who would become the association's first president, offered the name "Sun Bowl." A weeklong schedule of events was added, and four other local service clubs (Rotary, Lions, Optimist, and 20-30) joined the Kiwanis in coordinating the entire "Sun Carnival" calendar.
The success of that first game resulted in the founding of the Sun Bowl Association, whose threefold purpose was to present an annual football attraction of national importance, to promote El Paso and the Southwest, and to generate tourist income for the area. The public was invited to suggest a name for the game. Dr. C. M. Hendricks, who would become the association's first president, offered the name "Sun Bowl." A weeklong schedule of events was added, and four other local service clubs (Rotary, Lions, Optimist, and 20-30) joined the Kiwanis in coordinating the entire "Sun Carnival" calendar.
 In 1936, the first collegiate Sun Bowl game was played. New Mexico A&M (now New Mexico State) and HardinSimmons College tied 14-14. During these early years it became a tradition to match the Border Conference Champion against the best available opponent. The fourth Sun Bowl in 1938 was moved to the 15,000-seat Kidd Field on the campus of Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy (later renamed Texas Western College and known today as the University of Texas at El Paso). In 1963, the game was moved to the new 30,000-seat Sun Bowl Stadium. The 1982 game was the first Sun Bowl game in the newly-expanded Sun Bowl Stadium of over 51,000. In 2001, hundreds of seats were removed in order to soccer-size the stadium. The stadium's new capacity is 50,426.
2701 Sun Bowl Drive
University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, Texas 79968
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