TicketCity, the nation’s fourth-largest secondary ticket broker, has signed a deal to become the inaugural title sponsor of the TicketCity Bowl, a New Year’s Day college football bowl game to be telecast on ESPNU.

The game will feature teams from the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences, and will be played in Dallas’ 92,000-seat Cotton Bowl Stadium. The sponsorship deal marks the first time a ticket brokerage has slapped its name on a major college football bowl game, a move TicketCity founder and CEO Randy Cohen is proud of.

“We love college sports, and championship sporting events are our laser focus,” Cohen told TicketNews, adding that while the Austin, TX-based company had kicked around the idea of becoming a bowl game title sponsor for years, TicketCity did not pursue it in earnest until about six months ago. “This is very exciting for us.”

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Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TicketCity will title-sponsor the 2011 game and hold an option to do the same in 2012. The event was called the Dallas Football Classic, and the teams for the 2011 game will be announced December 5.

Cotton Bowl Stadium did not host a bowl game in 2010; the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic is now played at the new Cowboys Stadium.

“Obviously we are extremely pleased to have TicketCity as our title partner. The rapid rise of TicketCity to the top of its field of endeavor is a story that we hope to emulate with our new bowl,” Bowl President and CEO Tom Starr said in a statement. “The name is a natural for a bowl game and we are honored to have it in our title as we kick off what is destined to become a major New Year’s Day post-season college football attraction.”

Cohen, whose company has aggressively increased its marketing efforts in recent years, is trying to grow its brand, particularly in sports, which is where Cohen said the company excels.

“We like being able to make a difference in the industry, and this opportunity continues to stabilize our place in the ticketing market,” Cohen said. “We’re not afraid to take chances, because we’re not going be another company that essentially works on StubHub’s behalf.”

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