[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/12/04/texas-am-oklahoma-state-taxact-texas-bowl-2023.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_27&cx_artPos=7#cxrecs_s

Houston's 2023 TaxAct Texas Bowl to host Texas A&M and Oklahoma State

By Olivia Pulsinelli – Assistant managing editor, Houston Business Journal
Dec 4, 2023

Before Houston hosts the College Football Playoff National Championship in early January, the TaxAct Texas Bowl will be held Dec. 27.

Texas A&M University's Aggies will represent the Southeastern Conference, and Oklahoma State University's Cowboys will represent the Big 12 Conference. The game will begin at 8 p.m. at NRG Stadium and will be available on ESPN, ESPN+, ESPN Radio and SportsRadio 610 (KILT-AM).

The most recent matchup between the Aggies and the Cowboys was also in the Texas Bowl back in 2019, when Texas A&M beat Oklahoma State 24-21. That was the Cowboys' first appearance in the Texas Bowl and the Aggies' third. This is the first Texas Bowl either has played in since 2019.

This is the 18th year for the Texas Bowl and its 10th year affiliated with the Big 12 and the SEC. Dallas-based tax filing service provider TaxAct, a business of Blucora Inc. (Nasdaq: BCOR), has been the sponsor since 2021. The bowl is owned by ESPN but is managed locally by Lone Star Sports and Entertainment, an event management company affiliated with the Houston Texans.

Since 2016, the Texas Bowl has had the fifth-highest attendance among all college football bowls, trailing only the Rose, Peach, Fiesta and Orange bowls. The bowl and its Texas Kickoff sister event, an early-season, neutral-site game at NRG Stadium, create an economic impact of close to $80 million annually for the city of Houston. The bowl game's official charitable beneficiary is DePelchin Children’s Center, Houston’s oldest children’s charity. The game has given about $2.3 million to the charity to date.