Bitcoin Bowl Kicks Off

Posted On 27 Dec 2014

From left to right: Tony Gallippi, BitPay executive chairman; Brett Dulaney, executive director of the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl; and Stephen Pair, BitPay CEO.

The first game of the Bitcoin Bowl has happened, and it was (by all accounts) a huge success. The advertisements were clever, the hash-tags were trending, and the mascot was just the right level of kitschy. The whole event went off more or less flawlessly, much to the surprise of many, who (when the whole thing was first announced) expressed some shock that a Bitcoin company could or would be willing to invest in something like a college football sponsorship.

The Bitcoin College Bowl in St. Petersburg is a college football bowl sponsored by BitPay under the Bitcoin name. The first game, which kicked off yesterday (the 27th), was played between the Knights and the Wolfpack (Central Florida and North Carolina State college teams). The Wolfpacks won a 34-27 victory, continuing a generally successful season.

On the Bitcoin side of the partnership, BitPay did a number of things right with the promotions. BitPay’s advertisements, inserted into the coverage of the event, had high production values, and focused on the tangible benefits of Bitcoin itself. The company also used ChangeTip to tip people talking about the Bitcoin bowl dramatically, leading to the aforementioned trending hashtag, and a substantial spike in tipping activity, visible on ChangeTip’s stats. They were also able to get a number of merchants near the bowl to begin accepting Bitcoin, giving many people the chance to get their first Bitcoin experience in the real world.

The result of all this was that they even got quite a bit of coverage, both in the Bitcoin press and the general public, leaving a number of publications struggling to explain to puzzled audiences what precisely a Bitcoin is.

At the end of the day, Bitcoin needs a lot more events like this one if it is to continue to grow into a really useful economic tool. The Bitcoin Bowl was a good day for Bitcoin, and I, for one, hope BitPay keeps them coming.

Image courtesy of BitPay

About the Author

Raised by a pack of feral journalists, Andre is a lean, mean, insight machine, who sleeps with a copy of "The Wealth of Nations" under his pillow and has strong feelings about fractional reserve lending. He also makes videogames.