Shula Bowl

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FIU

Florida Atlantic

   

Locations of Florida Atlantic and FIU in the Miami metropolitan area

The Shula Bowl is the name given to the Florida Atlantic–Florida International football rivalry.^[1] It is an annual college footballrivalry game between the only two public universities in the Miami metropolitan area: Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton and Florida International University (FIU) in University Park. The game's winner receives a traveling trophy, the "Don Shula Award," for one year. The current winner is FIU, winning 38–28 on September 13, 2025. Florida Atlantic leads the all-time series 17 games to 5.

The game and trophy are named after former Miami Dolphinshead coachDon Shula. Don Shula was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 1970 to 1995. Each school's first head coach has previous ties to Don Shula. Florida Atlantic's first head coach Howard Schnellenberger was an assistant of Shula in the 1970s, and FIU's first head coach Don Strock was a player under Shula in the 1970s and 1980s.^[2] Don Shula set numerous records as head coach of the Miami Dolphins and his legacy is seen throughout the Miami area. The Shula Bowl pays homage to Shula, to South Florida football and the ties and history of both universities.

The Shula Bowl was first played at Hard Rock Stadium, then known as Pro Player Stadium, in present-day Miami Gardens, Florida, on November 23, 2002. The game now alternates between Florida Atlantic and FIU's home fields. Until 2010, Florida Atlantic used Pro Player Stadium (later renamed Dolphin Stadium in 2006) as its home field, where FIU has almost always used the on-campus venue now known as FIU Stadium as its home field. On one occasion, in 2007, FIU used the Miami Orange Bowl in Little Havana, Miami, as its home field, while FIU Stadium was undergoing an expansion. The 2007 game was played in the final months of the Orange Bowl before being demolished for the construction of LoanDepot Park.^[3] Beginning in 2012, Florida Atlantic used its newly built FAU Stadium in Boca Raton as its home field, marking the first time the Shula Bowl was played on both rival schools' campuses.

Durante años, el partido se transmitió por la cadena ESPN gracias a un acuerdo para retransmitir los partidos de la Conferencia Sun Belt . En 2013, ambas universidades se unieron a la Conferencia USA , y el partido pasó a emitirse por Fox Sports 1 , ya que la C-USA no transmitía partidos por las cadenas de ESPN (excepto el partido del campeonato de la conferencia). En los últimos años, el partido se ha emitido por Stadium y se transmite localmente por WSFL-TV The CW South Florida.

En 2021 se anunció que FAU dejaría la Conference USA para unirse a la American Athletic Conference a partir del año académico 2023-24, lo que generó incertidumbre sobre si la rivalidad continuaría en el formato actual. ^{[ 4 ]} Se presumía que el fútbol americano, en particular, estaría en pausa al menos hasta 2024, ya que ese sería el siguiente año en que ambos equipos tendrían espacios libres en sus calendarios de partidos fuera de conferencia. ^{[ 5 ] [ 6 ]}

En un comunicado anunciado el 26 de septiembre de 2022, los departamentos de atletismo de FAU y FIU firmaron una serie de cuatro juegos que continuaría el Shula Bowl a partir de 2024. ^{[ 7 ]}

• Lista de partidos de rivalidad de fútbol americano universitario de la NCAA