It was a classic matchup of offense vs. defense, but ultimately, the latter was no match.
NC State defeated UCF by a score of 34-27 at the first ever Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Bitcoin payment processor BitPay is sponsoring the event for three years and worked with the local community to prepare for the "biggest bitcoin event in the world."
The actual game was not as close as indicated by the final score. NC State led by as much as 21 in the fourth quarter before UCF quarterback Justin Holman threw for a pair of touchdowns. NC State ran out the clock after recovering a last-ditch UCF onside kick.
For Bitcoin and BitPay, however, victory wasn't quite as decided. BitPay did air two commercials on ESPN during the event, exposing Bitcoin to millions of viewers. However, a survey by CoinDesk showed that fans at the game were mostly indifferent to the Bitcoin aspect of the event. Many fans were unfamiliar with it or thought it is some company. Also, Bitcoin was not accepted at stores in the stadium as BitPay was unable to come to an agreement with the resident MLB Devil Rays on the matter.
Bitcoin companies including Airbitz, Trucoin and NCR Silver were present right outside the venue and sought to educate attendees on Bitcoin.
Attendance at the game, 26,675, was the second highest in its seven-year history. However, it fell short of reported BitPay expectations of over 30,000.
