Over the years, many people
have come to know the Sun Bowl as the annual site of a college
football bowl game each year, it taking the same name as the facility,
the Sun Bowl. However, the Sun Bowl is also the home of the Texas El
Paso Miners. In 1935, the first Sun Bowl game was played as a
fundraising effort that led the way to what has become the annual Sun
Bowl game each year. The Sun Bowl Association was founded to get a
stadium going for this annual game and other football games.
It took
several decades for the actual Sun Bowl to be built. By 1938, the
annual game was moved to Kidd Field at the campus of the University of
Texas at El Paso. However, by the early 1960’s support grew and the
Sun Bowl was finally constructed near Kidd Field. The 30,000 seat Sun
Bowl opened on December 31, 1963 with Oregon and SMU playing the first
game. Over the years, the Sun Bowl has experienced one major expansion that
came before the 1982 season. It was expanded to seat nearly 51,000, as
seats were added on the east side of the stadium. In 2001, the seating
capacity was reduced slightly as some seats were removed for soccer.
Although it continues to be home of the annual Sun Bowl game, the
facility has been home of the Texas El Paso Miners football team.
