The St. Petersburg Bowl has been renamed the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, reports college football insider Brett McMurphy of ESPN.
Despite the name change, the game will remain at Tropicana Field. Changing the name to “Gasparilla Bowl” is an attempt to make the bowl seem more regional for the Tampa Bay area since the annual Gasparilla Parade is held each year in Tampa, writes McMurphy.
This year’s game will be played December 21 and will feature teams from the American and Conference USA conferences.
An official announcement is scheduled for Monday in St. Pete.
The name change is the bowl’s fourth in its nine seasons. (Who can forget the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl or the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl?)
According to McMurphy, Bad Boy Mowers also recently become the naming rights sponsor for the Battle 4 Atlantis basketball tournament. The company also has had discussions about Nascar sponsorship, but ultimately wanted to get into the college football market.