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The Gasparilla Bowl is the third college bowl game to be played in the Tampa Bay area. The first was the Cigar Bowl, which was played in Tampa from 1947 to 1954, and the second was the ReliaQuest Bowl, which has been held in Tampa since 1986 and was known as the Outback Bowl for over 20 years.

In 2008, the NCAA’s Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee approved a yet-to-be-named bowl game to be owned by ESPN and played at Tropicana Field after the 2008 college football season.^[3] Telecom company magicJack signed on as the title sponsor, and the inaugural magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl was played on December 20, 2008, between South Florida and Memphis, with the Bulls winning 41–14 behind Most Outstanding Player quarterback Matt Grothe.^[4]

For the 2009 game, restaurant chain Beef O’Brady’s took over as presenting sponsor. The game became known as St. Petersburg Bowl Presented by Beef O’Brady’s in December 2009 after the restaurant chain obtained a title sponsorship.^[5] Rutgers defeated UCF 45–24.

In 2010, the bowl’s name was shortened to the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl. Southern Miss faced Louisville; it was the 29th meeting between former Conference USA rivals.^[6] Louisville rallied from a 14-point deficit to win their sixth contest in a row against Southern Miss.^[7]

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s stopped sponsoring the bowl after the 2013 edition.^[2] On June 18, 2014, it was announced that Bitcoin payment service provider BitPay would become the new sponsor of the game under a two-year deal, renamed the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. Bitcoin, the digital currency, was accepted for ticket and concession sales at the game as part of the sponsorship, and the sponsorship itself was also paid for using bitcoin.^[8][9] On April 2, 2015, after one year of sponsorship, BitPay declined to renew sponsorship of the game, and it was again called the St. Petersburg Bowl for the next two years.^[10]

On August 23, 2017, Bad Boy Mowers signed a three-year deal to become the official title sponsor of the game, which was rebranded as the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, after Tampa’s Gasparilla Pirate Festival.^[11] The sponsorship ended after the 2019 game.^[12]

On October 20, 2020, Union Home Mortgage signed on as title sponsor of the bowl, making it the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl.^[13] The 2020 edition of the bowl was set to matchup South Carolina and UAB. However, on December 22, South Carolina had to withdraw from the bowl due to COVID-19 issues within their program.^[14] As no replacement team was available, the bowl was subsequently canceled.^[14]

Stadium

Tropicana Field (left) and Raymond James Stadium

The bowl has been played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa since the 2018 edition. The first ten games were played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.^[18]

“The Trop” is the home ballpark of the Tampa Bay Rays of MLB, and when it was first established, the then-St. Pete Bowl was one of several new college bowl games to be played in baseball venues.^[19] At Tropicana Field, the football gridiron was situated down the right field line from near home plate to the outfield wall with just enough room for the endzones.^[20]

Source:^[24]

From 2008 through 2016, an MVP was selected from each team; since 2017, a single game MVP is named.

Source:^[25][26][27]

Updated through the December 2025 edition (17 games, 34 total appearances).

Teams with multiple appearances

Teams with a single appearance

Won (7): East Carolina, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Mississippi State, Rutgers, Temple, Wake Forest
Lost (7): Ball State, Connecticut, Miami (OH), Missouri, Ohio, Southern Miss, Tulane

Updated through the December 2025 edition (17 games, 34 total appearances).

• The record of the American Conference includes appearances of the Big East Conference, as the American retains the charter of the original Big East, following its 2013 realignment. Teams representing the Big East appeared in three games, compiling a 3–0 record.
• UCF has appeared as a member of C-USA (2009 and 2012), American (2014, 2019, 2021), and Big 12 (2023).

Source:^[29][30]

The bowl has been televised on ESPN since its inception, and broadcast on ESPN Radio and later Gameday Radio.

• Official website