The game's title sponsor was Sony Interactive Entertainment via its PlayStation brand as part of a multi-year deal with broadcasting and marketing rightsholder ESPN, which includes branded content and making PlayStation the official video gaming and virtual reality sponsor of the College Football Playoff; the game is officially known as the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.
This was only the third time that Penn State and Washington played each other, and the Nittany Lions had won both previous meetings.
The most recent game was 34 years earlier in Honolulu at the 1983 Aloha Bowl, where Penn State defeated the Huskies 13–10.
[3][4] The first meeting was in 1921, where Penn State defeated the Washington Sun Dodgers 21–7 on December 3 in Seattle.
[5][6] The Nittany Lions had appeared in six previous Fiesta Bowls: 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1997, winning all six.