The game was originally held at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii, a suburb of Honolulu, before moving to the Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex in 2022.

For practical and logistical reasons, the Mountain West Conference's tie-in is automatically allocated to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors if the team is bowl-eligible, and was not selected to play in a New Year's Six (or previously, BCS) bowl game.

[3] Previous sponsors include ConAgra Foods (2002) and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Hawaii (2003–2013), and SoFi (2018–2019).

In 2008, the bowl organizers selected Notre Dame as an at-large bid, marking the first time an independent played in the contest.

[8] On October 2, ESPN Events announced that the 2020 edition of the bowl game had been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On December 23, 2021, the game was cancelled for the second consecutive season, after the Rainbow Warriors withdrew due to injuries and COVID-19 issues within the team.

Since the 2022 playing, the award—given to a single player—has been known as the Hugh Yoshida Most Valuable Player Award, honoring a former athletic director at the University of Hawai'i.

Lost (5): Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, UAB, UCF Updated through the December 2024 edition (21 games, 42 total appearances).