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The Onion wants to test the limits of wackiness in college football by sponsoring a bowl game
General view of a football. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

YES ... HA HA HA ... YES: The Onion wants to test the limits of wackiness in college football by sponsoring a bowl game

If you thought college football was weird before, just wait until The Onion gets involved.

Picture it: An almost 160-year-old football, rolled out onto the field in a wheelchair. 

• Former ESPN "SportsCenter" host Kenny Mayne in the play-by-play booth, at least for a half, and as long as he secures papaya from Jalisco, Mexico and the cover of Teen Vogue beforehand. 

• A Miami (Ohio) kicker lining up for a PAT while Jeff Goldblum maniacally laughs in the background.

As Adele once sang, "We could've had it all," and we still might if The Onion CEO Ben Collins gets his wish.

The Onion CEO details wild potential bowl game plans during recent "Pablo Torre Finds Out" episode

In Thursday's edition of "Pablo Torre Finds Out," the Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast host sat down with Collins and discussed the satirical newspaper's efforts to sponsor a college football bowl game, which began with a social media post two years ago when Collins joked, "We're only two years away from The Onion Premium Sex Bowl™ featuring the worst two teams in the country. It's 9 quarters long and there is no penalty for roughing the kicker."

We're only two years away from The Onion Premium Sex Bowl™ featuring the worst two teams in the country. It's 9 quarters long and there is no penalty for roughing the kicker.

— Ben Collins (@bencollins.bsky.social) 2024-12-28T17:54:44.719Z

After the post gained traction, Collins pursued college bowl game sponsorship in earnest, eventually connecting with New Orleans Bowl organizers. The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation denied the request, however, with Collins explaining politics and The Onion's "Sickos Guy" mascot, a cartoon originally made for The Onion in 2015 of a frayed man leering through a window which has become an unofficial college football mascot over the years for those who enjoy the most perverse the sport has to offer, as playing roles in the decision.

Then the folks who run the New Orleans Bowl, a commission that includes representatives of the city and state of Louisiana, found out our plans to highlight our mascot: The Sickos Guy.

— Ben Collins (@bencollins.bsky.social) 2026-11-05T13:39:11.291Z

Despite getting all approvals from ESPN and scraping together the cash, right as we were about to sign the paper work to put The Onion Sports Bowl in New Orleans, their state-funded commission called us and said it straight up: "No." We asked why. They said politics. And the Sickos Guy.

— Ben Collins (@bencollins.bsky.social) 2026-11-05T13:40:39.669Z

Undeterred, Collins told Torre that he remains interested in having The Onion sponsor a bowl game while offering some ideas being brainstormed for a potential broadcast.

During pre-game, the football used in 1869's first ever college football game would be pushed onto the field in a wheelchair. The booth, led by Mayne, would feature a cast of characters including local business owners, sweepstakes winners and a college football historian. With television ad space attached to bowl sponsorship, during breaks, The Onion would market fake products such as Dog Blood (it makes you shake, but in a good way).

The in-game experience promises it own set of delights, including a "Handshake Cam" to replace the "Kiss Cam," an "Ejection Cam," where mascots would remove attendees from their seats and the 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park" airing on the jumbotron as counterprogramming.

In a social media post Thursday, Collins wrote that a number of bowls remain sponsorless with a little over a month until bowl season kicks off, keeping the dream of an Onion-sponsored bowl game alive.

"The No. 1 way to help right now is to get the paper, help us with bills, and help us beat Jeff Bezos," who owns The Washington Post, which sits directly above The Onion as the fourth-largest newspaper in the United States.

There are several Bowl Games with no sponsors, or even raisons d'etre, left to purchase in the next month. One is even in the freshly occupied Texas, which and we obviously want that one. The No. 1 way to help right now is to get the paper, help us with bills, and help us beat Jeff Bezos.

— Ben Collins (@bencollins.bsky.social) 2026-11-05T13:44:59.207Z

Here's the deal: We are a just a few thousand subscribers away from hitting 100,000 subscribers, which would catapult us above Jeff Bezos' Washington Post in print circulation. This would make us the 4th biggest newspaper in the United States. So we need more people to sign up before Christmas.

— Ben Collins (@bencollins.bsky.social) 2026-11-05T13:33:42.072Z

"If this won't fund independent print journalism, I don't know what will," Torre said near the conclusion of Thursday's episode.

For a sport as wild and chaotic as college football, The Onion would be the perfect bowl sponsor. While the idea may have started as a joke, someone seriously needs to make it happen.

Eric Smithling

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans. You can find him on X and Threads at @ericsmithling and at Bluesky at @ericsmithling.bsky.social.

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