The Celebration Bowl is organized by ESPN Events, sponsored by the Air Force Reserve and SWAC season champion would automatically qualify for this tournament form 2017.
The game is organized by ESPN Events, which also runs the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, the annual interconference game between the two conferences, held over Labor Day weekend in Orlando, Florida. The Celebration Bowl was sponsored by the Air Force Reserve for three playings: 2015, 2016, and 2018. In June 2017, the SWAC announced that it would discontinue the SWAC Championship Game following the 2017 playing, resulting in the SWAC regular season champion automatically qualifying for the Celebration Bowl. 
