In the inaugural game, South Florida's Benjamin Williams scored the game's first points just over ninety seconds into the game as one of his two touchdowns on the day, and earned the game's MVP honors. Notably, South Florida had previously been a member of C-USA. Moreover, East Carolina's then head coach Skip Holtz, would later become USF head coach Jim Leavitt's successor following the 2009 season.
There was a Birmingham Bowl in January and December of 2015, and none in 2009 or 2019. The game in January 2021 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.