The Gasparilla Bowl is an annual NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game played in the Tampa Bay area. It was first played in 2008 as the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, one of several new bowl games played in Major League Baseball venues. The game was renamed the Gasparilla Bowl in 2017 as a nod to the legend of José Gaspar, a mythical pirate who supposedly operated in the Tampa Bay area and who is the inspiration for Tampa's Gasparilla Pirate Festival. The bowl relocated to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa in 2018.
Since 2020, the game has been sponsored by Union Home Mortgage and has been officially known as the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. Previous sponsors include magicJack (2008), Beef O'Brady's (2009–2013), BitPay (2014), and Bad Boy Mowers (2017–2019).
History 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.NCAA committee approves 34 football bowl games The Associated Press, ESPN.com. April 30, 2008. Accessed April 30, 2008. 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."No longer St. Pete Bowl" from Tampa Tribune, 2008-11-25, retrieved 2008-12-02
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.*"Beef O Brady's Sponsorship Press Release" 2009-12-09, retrieved 2009-12-13 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."Golden Eagles to Face Louisville in Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl" 2010-12-05, retrieved 2010-12-05 Louisville rallied from a 14-point deficit to win their sixth contest in a row against Southern Miss.
Beef 'O' Brady's stopped sponsoring the bowl after the 2013 edition. 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. 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.
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. The sponsorship ended after the 2019 game.
On October 20, 2020, Union Home Mortgage signed on as title sponsor of the bowl, making it the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. 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. As no replacement team was available, the bowl was subsequently canceled.
Conference tie-ins The first three editions of the bowl featured teams from C-USA and the Big East. The American Athletic Conference (AAC) succeeded the Big East after 2013. The bowl entered a six-year agreement with the ACC for the 2014 to 2019 seasons; the ACC would provide a team in 2014 and 2016, and would be an alternate for the other seasons. Ultimately, the only ACC team to play in the bowl during this period was NC State in 2014. Four of the five games from 2015 through 2019 featured a matchup between AAC and C-USA teams. The exception was 2016, when an overall lack of bowl-eligible teams yielded some "odd matchups"; the bowl's 2016 edition featured teams from the MAC and SEC.
As of the 2020 football season, the bowl has a large set of tie-ins, such that it could feature teams from eight different conferences as well as two independent programs:
from the Power Five conferences: ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC from the Group of Five conferences: AAC, C-USA, MAC, MWC independent programs: Army, BYU
Note: since 2020, both Army and BYU have joined conferences.
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.
"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. 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.
Game results DateBowl name Winning Team Losing TeamVenueAttendance December 20, 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl South Florida 41 Memphis 14 Tropicana Field 25,205 December 19, 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl Rutgers 45 UCF 24 28,793 December 21, 2010 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl Louisville 31 Southern Miss 28 20,017 December 20, 2011 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl Marshall 20 FIU 10 20,072 December 21, 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl UCF 38 Ball State 17 21,759 December 23, 2013 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl East Carolina 37 Ohio 20 20,053 December 26, 2014 St. Petersburg Bowl NC State 34 UCF 27 26,675 December 26, 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl Marshall 16 Connecticut 10 14,652 December 26, 2016 St. Petersburg Bowl Mississippi State 17 Miami (OH) 16 15,717December 21, 2017 Gasparilla Bowl Temple28FIU3 16,363 December 20, 2018 Gasparilla Bowl Marshall 38 South Florida 20 Raymond James Stadium 14,135 December 23, 2019 Gasparilla Bowl UCF 48 Marshall 25 28,987 December 26, 2020 Gasparilla Bowl Canceled due to COVID-19 — December 23, 2021 Gasparilla Bowl UCF 29 Florida 17 63,669 December 23, 2022 Gasparilla Bowl Wake Forest 27 Missouri 17 34,370 December 22, 2023 Gasparilla Bowl Georgia Tech 30 UCF 17 30,281 December 20, 2024 Gasparilla Bowl Florida 33 Tulane 8 41,472 December 19, 2025 Gasparilla Bowl NC State 31 Memphis 7 13,336 Source:
MVPs From 2008 through 2016, an MVP was selected from each team; since 2017, a single game MVP is named. YearWinning team MVPLosing team MVPPlayerTeamPositionPlayerTeamPosition 2008 Matt Grothe South Florida QB Duke Calhoun Memphis WR 2009 Mohamed Sanu Rutgers WR Kamar Aiken UCF WR 2010 Jeremy Wright Louisville RB Austin Davis Southern Miss QB 2011 Aaron Dobson Marshall WR T. Y. Hilton FIU WR 2012 Blake Bortles UCF QB Jahwan Edwards Ball State RB 2013 Vintavious Cooper East Carolina RB Donte Foster Ohio WR 2014 Jacoby Brissett NC State QB Josh Reese UCF WR 2015 Deandre Reaves Marshall WR Bobby Puyol Connecticut K 2016 Nick Fitzgerald Mississippi State QB Gus Ragland Miami (OH) QB 2017 Frank Nutile Temple QB 2018 Keion Davis Marshall RB 2019 Dillon Gabriel UCF QB 2021 Ryan O'Keefe UCF WR 2022 Sam Hartman Wake Forest QB 2023 Jamal Haynes Georgia Tech RB 2024 DJ Lagway Florida QB 2025 Caden Fordham NC State LB Source:
Most appearances
Updated through the December 2025 edition (17 games, 34 total appearances).
Teams with multiple appearances RankTeamAppearancesRecord 1 UCF 6 3–3 2 Marshall 4 3–13 NC State 2 2–0 South Florida 2 1–1 Florida 2 1–1 Memphis 2 0–2 FIU 2 0–2
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
Appearances by conference Updated through the December 2025 edition (17 games, 34 total appearances).
ConferenceRecordAppearances by seasonGamesWLWin pct.WonLost American 11 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2019, 2021 2014, 2015, 2018, 2024, 2025 CUSA 10 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2019 ACC 4 2014, 2022, 2023, 2025 SEC 4 2016, 2024 2021, 2022 MAC 3 2012, 2013, 2016 Sun Belt 1 2011 Big 12 1 2023
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).
Game records TeamPerformance, Team vs. OpponentYearMost points scored (one team)48, UCF vs. Marshall 2019Most points scored (both teams)73, UCF vs. Marshall2019Most points scored (losing team)28, Southern Miss vs. Louisville2010Fewest points allowed 3, Temple vs. FIU2017Margin of victory 27, South Florida vs. Memphis 2008Total yards 587, UCF vs. Marshall 2019Rushing yards 310, UCF vs. Marshall 2019Passing yards 328, Ohio vs. East Carolina 2013First downs 30, East Carolina vs. Ohio 2013Fewest yards allowed194, Florida vs. Tulane 2024Fewest rushing yards allowed35, Rutgers vs. UCF 2009Fewest passing yards allowed86, Marshall vs. Connecticut 2015IndividualPlayer, Team vs. OpponentYearAll-purpose yards 251, Ryan O'Keefe (UCF) 2021Touchdowns (all-purpose) 3, shared by:Mohamed Sanu (Rutgers)Latavius Murray (UCF)Josh Reese, (UCF)CJ Bailey (NC State) 2009201220142025Rushing yards 198, Vintavious Cooper (East Carolina) 2013Rushing touchdowns 2, multiple times—most recent:Isaiah Bowser (UCF) 2021Passing yards 305, DJ Lagway (Florida) 2024Passing touchdowns 3, shared by:Matt Grothe (South Florida)Blake Bortles (UCF)Justin Holman (UCF)Sam Hartman (Wake Forest) 2008201220142022Receptions 11, A. T. Perry (Wake Forest) 2022Receiving yards 165, Randall St. Felix (South Florida) 2018Receiving touchdowns 3, Josh Reese (UCF) 2014Tackles 14 by several players, most recently:Greg Reaves (South Florida) 2018Sacks 2, shared by: Steve Beauharnais (Rutgers)Tyler Williams (Wake Forest) 20092022Interceptions 1, by several players, most recently:Caden Fordham (NC State) 2025Long PlaysPlayer, Record, Team vs. OpponentYearTouchdown run 62 yds., Desmond Johnson (Southern Miss) 2010Touchdown pass 80 yds., Donte Foster from Derrius Vick (Ohio) 2013Kickoff return 95 yds., Jeremy Wright (Louisville) 2010Punt return 39 yds., Andre Snipes-Booker (Marshall) 2011Interception return 75 yds., Micah Abraham (Marshall) 2019Fumble return 55 yds., Tre'Mon Morris-Brash (UCF) 2019Punt 61 yds., Tyler Williams (Marshall) 2015Field goal 52 yds., Bobby Puyol (UConn) 2015 Source:
Media coverage The bowl has been televised on ESPN since its inception, and broadcast on ESPN Radio and later Gameday Radio.
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