Heart of Dallas Bowl

The Heart of Dallas Bowl (formerly the TicketCity Bowl) is an NCAA post-season college football bowl game. The inaugural game was played on New Year's Day (January 1), 2011, at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. This game physically replaced the Cotton Bowl Classic, which moved from its longtime eponymous home to Cowboys Stadium in nearby Arlington in 2010. The conferences are scheduled to receive a US $1.2 million payout for the teams' participation.

History
The game was called the Dallas Football Classic until TicketCity, an online reseller of sports and entertainment tickets, agreed to be the title game's first title sponsor.

The Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten Conference faced the Texas Tech Red Raiders of the Big 12 Conference in the inaugural game. The 2012 edition featured the Penn State Nittany Lions versus the Houston Cougars.

The 2013 game will feature a new title sponsor, Heart of Dallas, an Irving, Texas based organization that took over the game operations.

Stadium
The Cotton Bowl stadium opened in 1932. Originally known as the Fair Park Bowl, it is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair of Texas. Due to the immense crowds that SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s, the stadium became known as "The House That Doak Built." The Cotton Bowl Classic called the stadium home from the bowl's inception in 1937 until the 2010 game. The National Football League's Dallas Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home for 11 years, from the team's formation in 1960 until 1971, when the Cowboys moved to the Texas Stadium.

Tie-ins
Originally, the TicketCity Bowl planned for a team from the Big Ten Conference to play teams from the Big 12 Conference in odd numbered years and Conference USA teams in even numbered years. All three conferences have fulfilled their bowl tie-ins over the three games through the 2013 game.

Broadcasting
ESPNU has had coverage of the first two games.