Potato Bowl News
ALL 2020 POTATO BOWL USA EVENTS CANCELLED
The Potato Bowl USA Committee regrets to announce that all 2020 Potato Bowl USA activities scheduled for September 29th through October 3rd have been cancelled. "With COVID-19 still a threat and the suspension of the University of North Dakota fall football season, this was inevitable," said committee chairman Todd Phelps. The committee will now look forward to, and begin planning for the next Potato Bowl community event in the fall of 2021.
Next Potato Bowl: UND vs Drake University Sept. 18, 2021
FRENCH FRY FEED MOVED INDOORS IN 2019
The 54th Annual Potato Bowl USA is history…literally! The 2019 Potato Bowl actually made history when it moved the World’s Largest French Fry Feed indoors for the first time ever.
The decision to move the giant feed into the Hyslop Sports Center on the UND campus was made late Tuesday when the National Weather Service was still predicting a 100% chance of rain on Thursday. By Wednesday morning, Simplot’s Scott Lund began planning with UND’s Erik Martinson on how to pull it off.
On Thursday evening the old fieldhouse was once again filled with people. An estimated 7,500 folks passed through the arena which was once the gold standard for big venues in the region.
The arena was built in 1951 and was originally known as the University of North Dakota Fieldhouse. It hosted UND basketball for 53 years, many a Shrine Circus and numerous concerts like Alice Cooper, The Guess Who and Ozzie Osborne just to name a few. Today it serves as a practice area for UND women’s softball and still hosts a few smaller events.
The Potato Bowl Committee is thankful UND made the building available on such short notice. It prevented the event from being canceled for the second straight year.
The rain did cause the AgCountry Fireworks from taking place on Thursday night, but the weather cleared on Friday and the kid’s races, Rockin’ the Forks, the parade, tailgating and the Potato Bowl football game all went off without a hitch. And what a football game it was! UND held off 25th ranked Sam Houston State 27-23 for a huge win!