Frisco’s Ford Center at The Star lands two bowl games in 2026

Frisco’s Ford Center at The Star will host two ESPN-televised college football bowl games in December 2026, giving the venue a second straight year with a postseason doubleheader. The Frisco Football Classic is set for Dec. 15, and the Frisco Bowl will follow on Dec. 23, keeping the 9 Cowboys Way complex in the middle of the holiday travel rush.

For Frisco, the value of those bookings goes well beyond a television window. The Ford Center is a 510,000-square-foot indoor athletic facility developed through a public-private partnership involving the City of Frisco, the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, the Frisco Community Development Corporation, Frisco ISD and the Dallas Cowboys. The city originally described it as a multipurpose, 12,000-seat indoor stadium, and that original design is now being used as intended, as a year-round event space that can absorb postseason football and the visitors that come with it.

ESPN Events announced its 2026-27 college football bowl schedule on June 3, and the company’s roster includes 14 bowl games, four early-season neutral-site games and more than 400 hours of programming each year. Landing two bowls in one building is a meaningful placement inside that larger national calendar. It means Frisco is not just hosting a single showcase game, but carving out a recurring role in ESPN’s winter lineup.

The venue has already shown that bowl football can fit there. The 2025 Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl moved to Ford Center at The Star because renovations were underway at Toyota Stadium, and Frisco’s city website lists Ford Center as the game site. ESPN also announced the first-ever Xbox Bowl for Ford Center on Dec. 18, 2025. Together, those bookings show the arena is no longer being used only for local football or Cowboys-related programming; it is becoming a repeat postseason host.

That matters for the businesses clustered around The Star. Two games within eight days will mean more cars, more television crews, more restaurant traffic and more hotel demand in a part of Collin County that already sells itself as a sports-and-entertainment district. It also extends Frisco’s brand beyond pro sports and high school athletics into college football, adding another layer of activity to a city that has steadily turned its sports infrastructure into an economic asset.