Rob Gronkowski Replaces Jimmy Kimmel As LA Bowl Host, Which Will Make Bowl Season So Much More Entertaining

Rob Gronkowski is going to make the college football postseason a lot more interesting.

The future Hall-of-Fame tight end will serve as host for the LA Bowl thanks to a new multi-year contract. Jimmy Kimmel had hosted the game for the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but now Gronk will take over for the foreseeable future.

Naturally, with the changing of the guard comes a change of the name.

"Jimmy was a fantastic host and brought a lot of elements to the game. But it's my turn now, and I'm going to turn it up, that's for sure," Gronkowski said.

Jimmy Kimmel Didn't Bring A Whole Lot To The Table As A Host

Now we do have to give some credit to Jimmy Kimmel for what he did during his brief tenure as host. In the 2021 matchup between Utah State and Oregon State, he joined the Beavers marching band to play the clarinet during the pregame.

He also got a sandwich named after him for fans to enjoy, but beyond that, Kimmel didn’t really add much. He’s a late-night show host who has no prior involvement in football at any notable level. And his mascot choice for the event was nauseating…literally. Fans that attended the game saw the "Jimmy Camel," which was a camel that vomited.

With Kimmel as the host, the LA Bowl’s viewership was No. 18 out of 40 bowl games in 2021, which is respectable. But those numbers dropped to 26 out of 47 in 2022. 

Not all of that is Kimmel’s fault, but he probably wasn’t the best choice to begin with. When you combine those rough numbers with the suspect mascot choice, it’s not hard to see why Gronk is taking over. 

And that’s a good thing for the LA Bowl.

Rob Gronkowski Will Probably Make The LA Bowl A Lot More Entertaining

During his playing days, Gronk was known for being a nightmare matchup for defenses. But he was just as well known for being a lighthearted, loveable goofball who loved having fun. 

He poked fun at defenders who couldn’t guard him, danced whenever he found the endzone, and partied with the best of him. And who could forget his iconic interview in which he declared himself the human embodiment of “party”...in Spanish?

So when Gronk says he wants to spice things up in LA, that can only mean good things. While it is not confirmed, he tossed out the idea of a performance similar to his “Masked Singer” appearance in 2020.

That would certainly count as spicing things up!

The LA Bowl features the 5th-choice Pac-12 team and the 1st-choice Mountain West team each season. But that will likely be a footnote now that Gronk is bringing the party to LA.