Chicago Prep Bowl

The Chicago Prep Bowl is an annual contest played between American football teams representing the Chicago Catholic League and the Chicago Public League. For most of its history, it was played at Chicago's Soldier Field.

History
The game was first played in 1927. After a forfeit in 1928, it was not played again until 1933. It was the premier high school football event in Illinois until the IHSA formed the state championship football playoffs in 1974. The 1927 game between Mt. Carmel and Carl Schurz High School drew an estimated 50,000 fans; the largest crowd to see a prep football contest in American history up to that time. In subsequent years, larger crowds were drawn to the annual game. The 1937 game attracted a high school football record crowd as large as 120,000. The game was not played in either 1929 or 1930. In 1930, a Public League championship at Soldier Field effectively substituted for the inter-league matchup, with 20,000 spectators attending it. The game was made an official annual event in 1934 after receiving the backing of mayor Edward J. Kelly. In the years that immediately followed, the game was initially known as the "Mayor's Charity Game" and the "Kelly Bowl". The game took on the name "Prep Bowl" in 1947, with Kelly leaving office earlier that year having not sought reelection in the 1947 Chicago mayoral election.

Mayor Richard J. Daley was a major supporter of the game. Shortly after his 1976 death, the city ceased sponsoring the event, and attendance began to drop. Within a few years, attendance was under 5,000. Also contributing to the declining interest in the annual game was the predictability of its outcomes. Between 1953 and 1981, the Chicago Catholic League teams won 27 games while the Chicago Public League teams won a mere two games. The advent of the state high school football playoffs further contributed to the decline in interest in the Prep Bowl. In 1979, the Prep Bowl was retooled. Before this, it was a standalone game that pitted the champion of the Chicago Catholic League against the champion of the Chicago Public League. The retooled Prep Bowl game became the final game of an Prep Bowl invitational playoff. In 1979, both the finals and semifinals were held at Soldier Field.

In 1981, the IHSA membership voted on a limitation that prohibited member schools from participating in more than nine games, plus the IHSA state series. The Prep Bowl was given a special exemption from this. With the advent of the IHSA state series, the Prep Bowl was contested by the winner of a special playoff in each league played by teams not qualifying for the state playoffs, and teams that were eliminated in early rounds of the state playoffs. It is traditionally played on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is the same day which the IHSA plays its smaller school state championships in football.

In the 1980s, there were considerations of ending the annual game. The city government helped to keep the game at Soldier Field after it was considered moving it to Gately Stadium. In the 1990s, when J.W. Smith became head of the Public League, he worked to revive interest in the game, marketing it and reviving the pre-game dinner for participants. In 1999, Dick Jauron, coach of the Chicago Bears, promised several of his players would be present at the game. The 1990s saw more competitive games and a more equal split in victories between Chicago Catholic League and Chicago Public League teams. This all brought about a brief period of resurged annual interest in the game.

Before 2015, games were held at Soldier Field (except for in 2002, when Soldier Field was under renovation). However, in 2015, unable to afford Chicago Park District rental fees, the game was moved away from Soldier Field.

Television coverage
The game was first televised in 1949, beginning the era of televised Prep Bowl games. Television was regularly blamed with causing as much as a 20,000 decrease in annual attendance at the games compared to the pre-television era.

In 1955, a decision was made not to broadcast that year's game on television.

Different broadcasters have carried the game of the year. In 1979, the game was broadcast by Chicago-based NBC station WMAQ-TV. In 2023, the Marquee Sports Network regional cable channel broadcast the game.

Among those who have provided play-by-play for broadcasts of the game is the late Tim Weigel.

Entertainment
In its history, some editions of the game have featured entertainment. For instance, in 1937 pre-game entertainment included a performance by Paul Whiteman.

List of results

 * Number of CCL victories: 63
 * Number of CPL victories: 28
 * Number of tied games: 2