The gridiron escapees from winter-locked Michigan and Nebraska who will meet Wednesday in Tempe, Ariz., for the nation's fifth largest collegiate bowl game will be taking back with them a greater financial return for their universities from the new Sunkist Fiesta Bowl than any of the 15 previous Fiesta Bowls ever returned.
The 6,000 citrus growers who market their Arizona and California crops through Sherman Oaks-based Sunkist Growers signed a five-year agreement with the Fiesta Bowl management last fall that added Sunkist to the name of the game. In return, Sunkist increased its long-standing sponsorship of the post-season contest enough to boost the payoff to $1.1 million for each participating institution, a 25% increase over 1985. By 1990, the sum is to grow to $2 million per team.
