• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 23, 2006

Allstate will replace Nokia as the title sponsor of college football's Sugar Bowl. The insurance giant has reached a four-year deal with Fox--which takes over coverage of the Bowl Championship Series from ABC in January--and the Sugar Bowl Committee.

The newly named Allstate Sugar Bowl will return to New Orleans Jan. 3 after a post-Katrina relocation two months ago to Atlanta.

The deal also includes title sponsorship of the BCS National Championship Game in 2008.

Fox last year agreed to pay some $80 million a year for the rights to the Bowl Championship Series--which includes the Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar Bowls plus a new BCS national championship game--after ABC had carried the BCS. The agreement gave Fox the option to sell naming rights to the BCS title game.

"As the new home of the BCS, we at Fox are extremely excited to be partnering with Allstate and the Sugar Bowl for the next four years," said Neil Mulcahy, executive vice president of Fox Sports Sales, in a statement. "Fox is thrilled to expand our marketing partnership with Allstate."

Allstate also sponsors a Nascar event, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, and the U.S. Olympic team.