The Cherry Bowl was an annual post-season college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 bowl game played in the Pontiac Silverdome

Pontiac Silverdome

The Silverdome is a domed stadium located in the city of Pontiac, Michigan, USA, which sits on . It was the largest stadium in the National Football League until FedEx Field in suburban Washington, D.C...

 in Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...

, in 1984 and 1985. The Cherry Bowl is noteworthy as an early attempt to bring a game to chilly Michigan, years before the successful Motor City Bowl

Motor City Bowl

The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually since 1997. The first five games were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. Starting in 2002, the game was moved to 65,000-seat Ford Field in downtown...

 (now known as the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl). However, the bowl was not financially viable, and folded after its second year. The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl has since replaced the Cherry Bowl as a northern dome bowl game.

The Cherry Bowl was apparently off to a good start with its 1984 game, drawing more than 70,000 to its Army-Michigan State matchup. This game is noteworthy as Army's first-ever bowl appearance. For 1985, the bowl ambitiously promised $1.2 million to each team, the fifth-highest payout among all bowls.

The mid-1980s were a time of upheaval in college football. The end of NCAA control over television rights resulted in a major increase in televised games, and TV rights fees dropped sharply amid the resulting glut, something not anticipated by the Cherry Bowl organizers. Adding to their problems, without the local Michigan State team attendance for the 1985 game (between Maryland and Syracuse) fell by nearly 20,000.

Negotiations with General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

 to become the game's title sponsor failed. Unable to meet its payout obligation and more than $1 million in debt, the Cherry Bowl folded.

Game results

Date played	| Winning team		| Losing team
December 22, 1984	Army United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...	10	Michigan State Michigan State University Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...	6
December 21, 1985	Maryland University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...	35	Syracuse Syracuse University Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...	18