The East-West Shrine Bowl is on the move once again.
After playing the past two years in Las Vegas, the pre-NFL draft all-star game announced on Monday that it will move its game-week operations to the Dallas area next year. The 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl will be played at the Ford Center at The Star -- where the Cowboys train and practice -- in Frisco, Texas, on Feb. 1, 2024.
"It is a tremendous honor to host the East-West Shrine Bowl at the Ford Center at The Star next February," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said in a statement on Monday. "The game is a fixture in college football. We look forward to bringing the best college football players in the country to Frisco in the spirit of helping Shriners Children's care for young patients around the world."
The oldest college football all-star game, which was founded in 1925, has had several locations in its history. It spent many years in California before moving to Florida in 2010. The game moved to Las Vegas for the past two years.
The more central location should be logistically easier for scouts and media to attend, and The Star facility is considered among the best in the NFL. The past few years, the East-West Shrine Game has overlapped with the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, the other prominent pre-draft all-star game.
The 2023 East-West Shrine Bowl produced one first-round pick (Ravens WR Zay Flowers), seven top-100 picks, two quarterbacks (Raiders fourth-rounder Aidan O'Connell and Browns fifth-rounder Dorian Thompson-Robinson) and the most total draft picks (45) the game has produced in a decade.
The most notable Shrine Game alum in recent years has to be 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who went from Mr. Irrelevant in the 2022 NFL Draft to one of the team's most unlikely heroes in recent seasons, winning all five of his starts and leading San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game before suffering an elbow injury in the loss.
The East-West Shrine Bowl benefits Shriners Children's and its mission to provide excellent specialty care for children.
Among the notable players who have attended the game over the years includes Tom Brady, Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor, John Elway, Gale Sayers and Jimmy Garoppolo, and the teams have been coached by the likes of Don Shula, Dick Vermeil, Paul "Bear" Bryant and Bill Belichick, whose Patriots coached the West team in 2023.
"We're thrilled to work with the Dallas Cowboys to host this game at the Ford Center at The Star and carry on the tradition of impacting lives beyond the football field," Shriners Children's CEO Kenny Craven said. "The East-West Shrine Bowl helps raise the profile of Shriners Children's and the amazing care provided to children around the world."
