A noon kickoff on New Year's Eve
The 2026 ReliaQuest Bowl runs Thursday, December 31 at Raymond James Stadium, 4201 N Dale Mabry Hwy in Tampa. The stadium event listing prints the day's sequence: parking lots at 8:00 a.m., ticket office and bowl bash at 9:00 a.m., gates at 10:30 a.m., kickoff at 12:00 p.m.
A Wednesday check-in and a Thursday kickoff make two nights. A group that flies in on game day lands four hours before the ball moves.
The rate line the bowl publishes
The bowl's hotels page states that many of its hotel partners hold special rates and offerings for ReliaQuest Bowl fans. It asks guests to name the "ReliaQuest Bowl" when inquiring and booking rooms.
That sentence is the published offer. The hotels page carries no rate, no cut-off date, no block code and no minimum stay.
The bowl groups its partners into six areas: Downtown Tampa & Ybor City, Westshore near the stadium, East Tampa near Busch Gardens, South Tampa, the Gulf Beaches, and St. Petersburg.
Four properties carry a headquarters tag
The bowl lists four partners with a role. JW Marriott Tampa Water Street at 510 Water Street is the Big Ten team headquarters. Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay at 2900 Bayport Dr is the SEC team headquarters. Hyatt House Tampa Airport Westshore is the media headquarters. Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa at 400 Mandalay Ave is the beach day headquarters, and it hosts the bowl's Clearwater Beach Day on December 29.
The Grand Hyatt card places the property five minutes from Tampa International Airport, five minutes from Raymond James Stadium and 15 minutes from downtown Tampa.
Ask each sales desk what inventory the team allocation leaves and when that allocation releases.
Two purchase ladders, with the arithmetic
The bowl sells memberships that carry the right to buy tickets. Level A costs $85 for as many as 10 Green section seats at $80 each and as many as 2 parking passes at $30 each. Level B costs $300 for as many as 24 Purple section seats at $80 and as many as 6 passes at $30. Level C costs $750 for as many as 60 Purple section seats at $80 and as many as 15 passes at $30. Each level includes a bowl souvenir, and the bowl allots ticket and parking rights first come, first served.
Filled to the allowance, Level A totals $945 for ten seats and two passes. Level B totals $2,400 for 24 seats and six passes. Level C totals $6,000 for 60 seats and 15 passes.
VIP Club memberships carry the seats themselves. Level I costs $3,800 for 12 tickets and 4 parking passes. Level II costs $7,200 for 26 tickets and 7 passes. Level III costs $11,000 for 40 tickets and 10 passes. Level IV costs $23,000 for 100 tickets and 25 parking passes, plus invitations for 6 to the bowl's VIP events. VIP members sit in Yellow sections with Stadium Club Lounge access.
Divided by seat, the VIP ladder runs $317 at Level I, $277 at Level II, $275 at Level III and $230 at Level IV. Single-game tickets are published at $170 for club seats and $80 for all others.
One call that sets the block
The bowl office answers at (813) 874-2695. Membership questions go to Blake@ReliaQuestBowl.com. The hotel block is a third desk.
Put six questions to the hotel desk in one call: the block code, the nightly rate, the cut-off date, the minimum stay, the cancellation date, and the date unsold rooms return to general inventory.
Name the bowl on the call. The bowl's own page asks for it.
Getting the group to the gate
The bowl's travel page lists Tampa International Airport at 4100 George J. Bean Parkway and St Pete-Clearwater International Airport at 14700 Terminal Blvd. Charter coach runs through Champion Coach at (800) 583-7668. Chauffeured service runs through Walsh Chauffeured Transportation at (813) 960-3884.
OpenStreetMap routing puts the JW Marriott 5.5 miles and about 11 minutes by road from the stadium. The bowl labels its Westshore group "near stadium" on the hotels page.
Where the booking route stops
bookMyTeam publishes a seller-of-travel notice, last updated October 22, 2026. The notice lists Florida, Hawaii, Iowa and Washington and states that the platform cannot process hotel booking requests from residents of or for travel to those states. The same restriction covers grouprooms.org, hotelhaggle.org, hotelslots.org, bookmyteam.org and partners.hotelhuddle.com.
Book this trip direct with each property's group sales office. Questions about the notice go to compliance@hotelhuddle.com.
What to send the planner today
Send the seat count, the night count and the brief. Ask each desk for the block code and the cut-off in the same reply as the rate.
The bowl's ticket page still prints the December 31, 2025 game and a November 25, 2025 Ticketmaster date. Use the stadium event listing for the 2026 kickoff time and ask the bowl office which membership cycle is open.
