Bowl season has passed and there is only a short two weeks till the Superbowl.

With the college bowl season concluded, there has to be some sort of curiosity as to how and why bowl games continue to grow and flourish.

The Football Bowl Association oversees and often relays information they are given about certain bowl games, games including the Allstate BCS National Championship Game to the Champs Sports Bowl.

Annual bowl games are much more than new t-shirts and media days.

Depending on the bowl, the headlines can vary dramatically.

This year when SMU traveled to Birmingham, Ala. in their third consecutive bowl game to face The University of Pittsburgh, they took part in something bigger.

Though the game did not sell out, it helped add to the more than $63 million for the city of Birmingham over the last six years.

The BBVA Compass Bowl, along with the other 34 bowl games help bring revenue to the cities in which they are being held.

“BBVA Compass Bowl is a three and a half hour infomercial for the City of Birmingham,” said Executive Director Mark Meadows.

The Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl in San Diego, Calif. seemed to have much of the same reaction from its governing body.

Referring to the out of town tourism spending, the San Diego Union-Tribune had something to say themselves.

“The Texas Longhorns and California Golden Bears will be the stars on the football field at the Holiday Bowl, but their out of town fans are the real heroes in the eyes of San Diego’s tourism industry.”

While the games bring a much-needed boost to economies in times of need, some of the biggest impact is through the simple, yet much appreciated, visits many teams take to local hospitals.

During their stay in the Magic City, members of SMU football team took time to spend with those who would be watching the game from the local hospital.

Similarly, Arkansas State players had their own experiences during their GoDaddy.com Bowl voyage.

Ryan Alpin, Arkansas State quarterback, had this to say upon visiting the University of South Alabama Children’s and Women’s Hospital.

“It was an enlightening and humbling experience…we could tell it meant so much to the kids, and seeing something just as simple as us football players walking in the door brightening their day meant even more to us than it did to them,” Alpin said. “It gives us even more motivation to go out there and win.”

With trophies and championship hats being passed around at the end of a game, it is easy to overlok the other aspect of a bowl game.

And with the games concluded, it is apparent these games are more than a score but can often be a helpful boost to many.