The Bahamas Bowl wasn't played in 2025, and it currently isn't slated to return for the 2026 college football bowl season. While the Bahamas Bowl seemingly isn't returning at this time, college football will return to the Caribbean for the 2026 season. The Bahamas has now been substituted for Puerto Rico as the go to destination for college football fans.
On Friday, ESPN Events, Complete Sports Management, and Discover Puerto Rico announced that the trio would be adding the Puerto Rico Bowl to the Bowl game schedule for the 2026 season.
Puerto Rico Bowl is official. pic.twitter.com/hwCR8LeYMI
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) May 8, 2026
The first-ever Puerto Rico Bowl might instantly become the most fun game of Bowl Season
Fans looking for a getaway this winter can now pencil in Puerto Rico as a potential perfect vacation. During the cold winter months of college football's bowl season, what's better than heading for warmer weather with college football still within reach.
The Puerto Rico Bowl will have a fun pairing of teams as one MAC school will face an opponent to be determined later. The fun and chaos of the MAC deliver every season on weeknights, and now you can watch that chaos in a bowl setting at a location vastly different than the often cold environments of MAC games.
The game will be played at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón and will be televised on ESPN which is a win for the fans watching at home. The stadium was originally built in 1973 to serve as a baseball stadium but was upgraded and renovated in 2012 to host soccer matches.
Bowl season has taken a hit in recent years as players opt out of the games to focus on either entering the Transfer Portal or preparing for the NFL Draft. Giving the players a chance to go and play in Puerto Rico will likely be far more enticing than some of the other bowl games with less exciting perks.
As college football continues to shift into a new era, moves like this should be applauded for their boldness. The NIL and Revenue Sharing eras have made building a roster more expensive, and the teams will need to find new ways to create revenue. The NFL plays games away from their typical locations, and college football is likely using the same strategy.
If college football can bring games to the Caribbean and continue bringing games to Europe, it could create a stronger fan base for the sport. Bringing in more fans and additional viewership will only help the conferences when they negotiate their new television deals with the networks. That revenue in the end only helps the players as schools continue to pay athletes bigger salaries as time goes on.
If the Puerto Rico Bowl becomes a success, this could become the latest trend in college football. Teams could look to start scheduling Non-Conference games in other countries as new revenue streams while the TV networks could even start to push to send conference games abroad if the interest proves to be there.
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