BitPay-sponsored Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl became the most watched program broadcasted on December 26.
Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl was the most-watched program aired on December, 26, with the number of viewers accounted for about 1 million people, stated Nielsen Data. In general, the football game, which was held at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, drew around 3.3 million viewers.
Earlier, the official sponsor of the event, bitcoin startup BitPay, expected the game to reach the audience of 3 million viewers and the company’s estimates almost came true.
During the last years, the viewership of the St. Petersburg Bowl has been demonstrating a steady decrease. According to Nielsen Data, in 2013, the game, which was sponsored by Beef ‘O’Brady’s, recorded the second-lowest ratings of all the broadcasts. In total, the viewership of the bowl games fell by 2% in 2013.
Ashley Wheeler, the game coordinator, informed that around 300 travel packages to the event were acquired in digital currency. Besides, before the general sales, the bitcoin fans could buy the tickets using the cryptocurrency.
Although the idea of promoting bitcoin through the St. Petersburg Bowl seems to be the good one, it was more about making people to know bitcoin, rather than demonstrating its capabilities. Bitcoin was not widely accepted as a payment method at the event.
Reggie Kimble, product manager at the NCR Silver, said: “A lot of people are interested in Bitcoin and really, the name Bitcoin Bowl has inspired a lot of curiosity from the general public which is sadly disillusioned and asking a lot of questions, so it’s an opportunity to educate.”
According to Reason-Rupe, which conducted a survey regarding bitcoin in March 2014, 8% of the population in the US knows “a lot” about the digital currency, while 11% said they knew “some” and 24% answered “a little.” Meantime, most of the respondents, around 56%, said they knew “nothing at all.”
What concerns the bitcoin adoption, 59% of people between 18 and 24 year olds consider bitcoin should be allowed. This figure totals 46% among 35-44 year olds and 22% among population from 65 year old.
The similar survey was carried out by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors in May, 2014, and showed that 51% of the Americans know at least something about bitcoin.
On the whole, those Americans who don’t know a lot about bitcoin (most of the population), consider it to be illegal, as for the average man, bitcoin is associated with Silk Road drug marketplace and other illegal activities. Those who are more informed believe the cryptocurrency has high potential and could overtake fiat currencies in the future.
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