By
Polina Chernykh
December 30th, 2014
BitPay is going to sponsor an annual college football postseason game that will accept bitcoin at its stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida.
According to BitPay, a bitcoin payment processor, the firm will be a sponsor of the annual college football postseason game in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game, known as Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, will start on December 26th . BitPay will serve as a title sponsor for the next three years.
The first game will take place at Tropicana Field, a home stadium for Major League Baseball’s team Tampa Bay Rays. The previous sponsors include USB provider magicJack and Beef ‘O’ Brady’s restaurant.
BitPay expects the project will further contribute to the promotion of bitcoin among wider audience and increase national interest in the virtual currency.
The founder and executive chairman of the bitcoin company, Tony Gallippi, said: “Our goal is to continue to move bitcoin into the mainstream and sponsoring the St. Petersburg Bowl offers us that opportunity. College football fans and the bitcoin community represent a similar target demographic – tech-savvy men between the ages of 18 and 40.”
The bowl will be shown on ESPN, the US sports cable channel that is broadcasted to about 100 million homes in the US.
The price for the tickets will start at $40. By the way, the tickets, food, beer and merchandise at the event will be available in bitcoin.
Stephanie Wargo, a vice president of bitcoin marketing division, said they plan to make a bitcoin ecosystem at the bowl. ”The goal is to take bitcoin to the next level of adoption,” she added.
“We’re extremely excited to welcome BitPay,” said Brett Dulaney, executive director of the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. “It’s something that’s new and different and probably not a lot of people know about it.”
Executive director of the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, Brett Dulaney, commented: “We’re extremely excited to welcome BitPay.” He also said that “it’s something that’s new and different and probably not a lot of people know about it.”
Bitcoin can become a viable mean of payment at various entertainment events and sports venues due to its features.
In the beginning of the year, San Jose Earthquakes, an American professional soccer team, began to accept bitcoin at its stadium box office and gift stores. According to Dave Kaval, president of the soccer team, the decision to include bitcoin was taken due to the proximity of Silicon Valley, which is strongly related to the virtual currency.
Besides, the Sacramento Kings started to accept bitcoin in January and became the first NBA team to integrate the digital currency. The close location of Silicon Valley was also among the main reasons of the move.
