ACC football teams, get ready for some football fun in the sun during the month of December, down in Puertro Rico.
It was officially announced on Thursday morning that the first-ever TransPerfect San Juan Bowl would be held on Wednesday, Dec. 16 of this year at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. It should be a blast for whichever ACC and Sun Belt teams are invited for the historical first matchup in San Juan, as the teams will be part of that history of being the first-ever NCAA Division I FBS college football bowl game played in Puerto Rico.
San Juan will play host to a matchup between the ACC and Sun Belt for the lucky teams who will be escaping the cold weather on the mainland in the month of December while also being the forever answer to a trivia question about which teams played the first bowl game in Puerto Rico.
TransPerfect is the bowl game’s title sponsor and owner. It is the world’s largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business, and the company happens to have a big presence in San Juan, which explains the historical setting in the Caribbean.
It won’t be TransPerfect’s first foray into the college football bowl world though, because from 2020-24, the company was the time sponsor of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl in Nashville.
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ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said this about the opportunity:
The ACC is proud to participate in the inaugural TransPerfect San Juan Bowl this December. This new event will provide a memorable postseason experience for our student-athletes, coaches and fans, while showcasing ACC football in one of college football’s most compelling destinations. We appreciate the vision and commitment of TransPerfect and the bowl’s leadership, and we look forward to being part of an outstanding celebration of college football in San Juan.
Still to be announced are some additional details, including, of course, the participating teams, as well as the kickoff time, sponsorship opportunities and ticket availability.
While the ACC has a new, unlikely bowl destination, there is also the matter of playing for the ACC championship before any bowl game takes place. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the best odds to be the ACC champion in 2026:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
