Papa John's has ended its sponsorship of the PapaJohns.com Bowl. The bowl game, which features Big East and SEC teams, will have a new sponsor for this season - BBVA Compass.
Go ahead, let's hear it - what the heck is a BBVA Compass, anyway? Well, it's actually a bank.
So why the change? Well, you may not have known that ESPN actually owns this bowl game. To continue its relationship with the Big East and SEC, partnering conferences for the bowl, it increased its payouts this season to the teams:
In order to secure new four-year contracts with the SEC and Big East, ESPN increased its payouts. The SEC receives $1 million if it plays in the game, up from $900,000 last year; the Big East gets $900,000, up from $600,000.
This increased amount being paid out by ESPN would have led to a larger commitment from Papa Johns, something the company wasn't willing to do.
The sponsorship is effectively immediately and beginning with this year's game, it will be called the BBVA Compass Bowl.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.