BBVA Compass Bowl The BBVA Compass Bowl ( formerly known as the Birmingham Bowl and the PapaJohns . com Bowl ) is a post - season NCAA - sanctioned Division I - A college football bowl game approved in April 2006 and played annually at the 71 , 594 - seat Legion Field in Birmingham , Alabama , U . S . ESPN Regional Television ( doing business as ESPN Plus , a subsidiary of ESPN ) owns and manages the bowl ' s operations , sponsorships and marketing , including broadcast of the game on ESPN . The University of Alabama at Birmingham ( UAB ) also provides marketing , management and game - day operations support . The game is sponsored by BBVA Compass , a subsidiary of Bilbao , Spain - based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria which is based in Birmingham . Compass and bowl officials announced the new sponsorship on November 4 , 2010 . The game formerly promoted the website of Papa John ' s Pizza , who became the title sponsor signing a multi - year agreement on November 16 , 2006 . The company declined to renew its sponsorship in 2010 , so the bowl name reverted back to its working title before the announcement of the Compass deal . The bowl originally had a four - year agreement with Conference USA to match a representative of that conference against an opponent from the Big East Conference , but the bowl ' s officials later appealed to the NCAA for a recertification which was granted in late April 2008 . In 2008 and 2009 , the bowl featured the Southeastern Conference ' s ninth bowl - eligible team and a team from the Big East Conference . Should either of these conferences not fulfill their bowl commitments , a team from C - USA or the MAC will take their place , provided it is bowl eligible . Otherwise , the game will choose an at - large team ( as in 2008 , when the SEC was unable to send a team ; the bowl selected ACC team North Carolina State to face Rutgers from the Big East ) . History . The PapaJohns . com Bowl marked the return of post - season football to the city of Birmingham , which previously hosted the Dixie Bowl from 1947 - 1948 , the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 - 1985 ( relocated to Tampa and now named the Outback Bowl ) , and the All - American Bowl from 1986 - 1990 ( canceled when the SEC awarded their championship game to the city ) . In the inaugural game , played on December 23 , 2006 , the South Florida Bulls , the Big East ' s representative , beat Conference USA ' s East Carolina Pirates , 24 - 7 in front of an announced crowd of 32 , 023 . Benjamin Williams scored the game ' s first points just over ninety seconds into the game as one of his two touchdowns on the day , and earned the game ' s MVP honors . Notably , South Florida had previously been a member of C - USA . The 2007 matchup featured the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Cincinnati Bearcats . As with the previous year ' s game , the participants were a former Conference USA member ( Cincinnati ) and a current C - USA member ( Southern Miss ) . After being held in December for its first three years , the PapaJohns . com Bowl was played on January 2 , 2010 . As a result , there was no game during the 2009 calendar year . It was one of five bowl games to take place that day , joining the Cotton Bowl Classic , International , Alamo , and Liberty bowls . Connecticut faced South Carolina in the 2010 edition of the bowl . Once again , the unique link with C - USA returned , as South Carolina is an associate member in the conference for men ' s soccer . On August 6 , 2010 , Papajohns . com announced it would not renew its sponsorship , after having secured a sponsorship deal with the National Football League . Following the announcement , the game was temporarily renamed the Birmingham Bowl until BBVA Compass was announced as its title sponsor on November 4 , 2010 , officially changing its name to the BBVA Compass Bowl . Television coverage . Broadcasters