The Tobacco Bowl (or Tobacco Festival Bowl) was a college football game held in Richmond, Virginia from 1949 to 1982.[1][2] Despite its "bowl" designation, it was not a postseason game, but an in-season neutral-site contest that typically featured regional rivals from Virginia and neighboring states.[2] The Tobacco Bowl was always played in Richmond City Stadium. Virginia Tech (branded as VPI until the 1970s, after its official name, Virginia Polytechnic Institute), played in the most Tobacco Bowls (12), followed by Virginia (11) and VMI (10), but the game hosted the Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry game just twice, and the VMI-Virginia Tech rivalry game only once. After appearing in just four of the first 29 Tobacco Bowls, the city's own University of Richmond Spiders played in each of the last five games, against a visiting team from elsewhere in the southeast.

Tobacco Bowl (defunct)
Tobacco Festival Bowl
The Tobacco Bowl in 1949
StadiumCity Stadium
LocationRichmond, Virginia
Operated1949–1982
Conference tie-insNone
Sponsors
National Tobacco Festival

The Tobacco Bowl was Richmond's counterpart to the longer-lasting Oyster Bowl in Norfolk, Virginia, and the short-lived Harvest Bowl in Roanoke, Virginia, which were also regular season neutral-site contests. The game served as centerpiece of the National Tobacco Festival, which was held in Richmond every fall from 1948 until 1984. The festival included multiple activities in addition to the football game, including a parade, dinners, balls, beauty contests. The queen was selected from a group of crowned tobacco princesses who arrived in Richmond from all over the East Coast.[3]

The National Tobacco Festival was originally held in South Boston, Virginia from its inception in 1935 to 1941, when it was suspended during World War II.

Game results

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Note: Results are difficult to find; the following results have been compiled from various sources.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Annual Date Winner Loser Ref.
1st October 15, 1949 VMI 14 Richmond 7 [10]
2nd October 14, 1950 Virginia 26 Washington and Lee 21 [11]
3rd October 13, 1951 William & Mary 7 Wake Forest 6 [12]
4th October 18, 1952 Virginia 33 VMI 14 [13]
5th September 19, 1953 William & Mary 16 Wake Forest 14 [14]
6th September 25, 1954 VPI 32 Wake Forest 0 [15]
7th October 8, 1955 Penn State 26 Virginia 7 [16]
8th October 13, 1956 South Carolina 27 Virginia 13 [17]
9th October 19, 1957 Virginia 38 VPI 7 [18]
10th October 25, 1958 West Virginia 21 VPI 20 [19]
11th October 17, 1959 VPI 40 Virginia 14 [20]
12th September 24, 1960 VPI 15 West Virginia 0 [21]
13th September 30, 1961 Duke 42 Virginia 0 [22]
14th September 29, 1962 West Virginia 14 VPI 0 [23]
15th October 5, 1963 Duke 30 Maryland 12 [24]
16th October 11, 1964 Virginia 20 VMI 19 [25]
17th October 16, 1965 Virginia 41 West Virginia 0 [26]
18th October 15, 1966 VPI 21 Vanderbilt 6 [27]
19th October 7, 1967 William & Mary 33 VMI 28 [28]
20th October 19, 1968 West Virginia 20 William & Mary 0 [29]
21st October 11, 1969 Virginia 28 VMI 10 [30]
22nd October 24, 1970 Richmond 38 East Carolina 12 [31]
23rd October 16, 1971 Clemson 32 Virginia 15 [32]
24th October 28, 1972 William & Mary 17 Virginia Tech 16 [33]
25th October 13, 1973 Richmond 42 Southern Miss 20 [34]
26th October 5, 1974 VMI 22 Virginia Tech 17 [35]
27th October 18, 1975 Richmond 24 VMI 19 [36]
28th October 9, 1976 Virginia Tech 37 VMI 7 [37]
29th October 8, 1977 Virginia Tech 17 William & Mary 8 [38]
30th October 14, 1978 VMI 23 Richmond 6 [39]
31st October 13, 1979 Duke 34 Richmond 7 [40]
32nd October 25, 1980 Richmond 18 Virginia Tech 7 [41]
33rd October 10, 1981 East Carolina 17 Richmond 13 [42]
34th October 23, 1982 VMI 14 Richmond 0 [43]

References

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  1. ^ Ehrenstamm, F. (October 11, 1973). "UR Active in Tobacco Festival" (PDF). The Collegian. University of Richmond. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Tobacco Bowl Football Game". Flickr. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  3. ^ "From the Archives: Parades". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond Va. 2023-02-04.
  4. ^ "Football (College) – Programs – Assorted Bowl Games". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  5. ^ "An All-American Story Bakhtiar Uses Football to Pursue His Dream". Virginia Athletics Foundation. 2007. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  6. ^ "William and Mary Tribe Football Media Guide" (PDF). College of William and Mary. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 4, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
  7. ^ "VMI Football Media Guide". Virginia Military Institute. 2009. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
  8. ^ "College Football Data Warehouse". D. DeLassus. Archived from the original on October 25, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  9. ^ Gaillard, L. (October 13, 1971). "History Doesn't Interest Clemson's Hootie Ingram". The Spartanburg Herald. p. B4. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  10. ^ Howell, J. "1949 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  11. ^ Howell, J. "1950 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  12. ^ Howell, J. "1951 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  13. ^ Howell, J. "1952 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  14. ^ Howell, J. "1953 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  15. ^ Howell, J. "1954 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  16. ^ Howell, J. "1955 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  17. ^ Howell, J. "1956 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  18. ^ Howell, J. "1957 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  19. ^ Howell, J. "1958 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  20. ^ Howell, J. "1959 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  21. ^ Howell, J. "1960 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  22. ^ Howell, J. "1961 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  23. ^ Howell, J. "1962 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  24. ^ Howell, J. "1963 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  25. ^ Howell, J. "1964 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  26. ^ Howell, J. "1965 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  27. ^ Howell, J. "1966 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  28. ^ Howell, J. "1967 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  29. ^ Howell, J. "1968 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  30. ^ Howell, J. "1969 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  31. ^ Howell, J. "1970 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  32. ^ Howell, J. "1971 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  33. ^ Howell, J. "1972 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  34. ^ Howell, J. "1973 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  35. ^ Howell, J. "1974 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  36. ^ Howell, J. "1975 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  37. ^ Howell, J. "1976 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  38. ^ Howell, J. "1977 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  39. ^ Howell, J. "1978 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  40. ^ Howell, J. "1979 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  41. ^ Howell, J. "1980 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  42. ^ Howell, J. "1981 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  43. ^ Howell, J. "1982 Games" (TXT). Division I-A Historical Scores. Madison, WI: D. Howell. Retrieved January 14, 2012.