Bitcoin to sponsor St. Petersburg Bowl

Bitcoin exchange BitPay will sponsor a bowl game played at Tropicana Field. The artist formerly known as the "Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl" will now be the Bitcoin

Bitcoin exchange BitPay will sponsor a bowl game played at Tropicana Field.

The artist formerly known as the "Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl" will now be the Bitcoin Bowl, the new sponsor announced today. The game will feature teams from the American Athletic Conference and the ACC.

Here's some more info from the sponsor's press release (via SBNation):

ESPN Events, a subsidiary of ESPN, has announced BitPay, the world's leader in business solutions for the bitcoin digital currency, as the new title sponsor for the annual college football postseason game played in St. Petersburg (Fla.). Beginning with this year's December 26 game, the bowl will now be known as the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. BitPay will serve as title sponsor for three years through the 2016 game.

"Our goal is to continue to move bitcoin into the mainstream and sponsoring the St. Petersburg Bowl offers us that opportunity," said Tony Gallippi, Executive Chairman for BitPay. "College football fans and the bitcoin community represent a similar target demographic - tech-savvy men between the ages of 18 and 40."

What, exactly, is bitcoin? We'll let CNN explain:

Bitcoin is a new currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. Transactions are made with no middle men – meaning, no banks! There are no transaction fees and no need to give your real name. More merchants are beginning to accept them: You can buy webhosting services, pizza or even manicures.

Bitcoins can be used to buy merchandise anonymously. In addition, international payments are easy and cheap because bitcoins are not tied to any country or subject to regulation. Small businesses may like them because there are no credit card fees. Some people just buy bitcoins as an investment, hoping that they’ll go up in value.

The one thing you can't use them for is paying college football players.