annual American college postseason gridiron football (football, gridiron) game held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., beginning in 2008, after being played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., for the first 36 years of its existence. It is one of four bowls that take turns hosting the national championship game of Division I college football as part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) (BCS).

The inaugural Fiesta Bowl was held on Dec. 27, 1971, with Arizona State defeating Florida State 45–38. Subsequent games were played during the last week of December until 1982, when the date shifted to January 1; since the advent of the BCS, however, the game has generally been played one or two days after New Year's Day. In 1987 the bowl pitted two undefeated teams—Penn State (Pennsylvania State University) and Miami—in a game that, at that time, was the most watched in college football history. Penn State won 14–10 and claimed the national title. The Fiesta Bowl again hosted national champion-defining games in 1989 and 1996. As part of the BCS, in 1999 and 2003 it served as the national championship game, and in 2007, under a new BCS format, Sun Devil Stadium was the site of the championship, played just days after the Fiesta Bowl was contested there.

Traditionally, the bowl has a tie-in with the Big 12 Conference, whose champion plays there unless it is participating in the national championship game.