Is bowl swag ethical for schools in final BCS standings?

"I can assure you that not only are the players very knowledgeable about what they have and what they are receiving but they also are, the schools are very interested, too," says Jon Cooperstein of Davene Inc., a Memphis, Tenn., promotions company that served as an intermediary between companies and almost half of the nation's 34 bowl games. "Brand is a big deal."

This year's bowl gifts bear out Mr. Cooperstein's observation. The Emerald Bowl handed out an HP Netbook to the Eagles of Boston College and the Trojans of USC; the Pittsburgh Panthers and North Carolina Tar Heels walked away with a commemorative Richard Petty driving experience photo; and the Capital One Bowl threw a Best Buy party for LSU and Penn State, with each player walking away with up to $420 in merchandise. And at the Sugar Bowl, held in New Orleans, players from Florida and Cincinnati took home a Lane recliner.

While the NCAA attests to a prohibition of gift cards on its website, six bowls listed gift cards among their offered items. Leech says the NCAA slightly tweaked the underlying definition of a gift card, requiring only that they not be redeemable for cash.

On one level, Mr. McCann says, the idea of such end-of-year financial rewards raise the question as to why players are otherwise restricted from compensation.

"If the same concerns about amateurism and protecting players are justifying rules that limit players' access to financial resources during the season, why would they be any different here?" he asks.

On another level, it raises questions about whether athletes become implicit pitchmen for brands when they return to campus.

Although the potential impact of several hundred iPods or Netbooks in a sea of commercial activity may seem small, Cooperstein says corporations understand the value of having their items in a bowl goody bag.

"Sony is one of the names that is real big in the bowl gifts. And they aren't spending almost anything, with regard to their advertising dollars, to get the publicity they are getting," Cooperstein says.

Ogio, a maker of slick sports bags and other gear, had its products in 16 bowls, including all four BCS bowls and the national championship. While saying that student athletes don't become implicit sponsors of Ogio items, spokeswoman Kelly Mooney says the benefit the company gets from having college athletes wear their products around campus is "akin to sponsoring professional athletes," if in slightly different ways.

"Obviously it's not something we can measure, but we're aware of the intrinsic value," Ms. Mooney says.

Cooperstein says the promotions don't turn student athletes into pitchmen.

"They’re getting a legal gift for a job well done, for success as a team during a season," he says. "The team as a whole is getting the gift. It’s not one individual being rewarded more than any other, it’s a team. There is a set value, there is no advertising dollars that they gain from it, there is no advertising dollar that the school gains from it."

Not all are convinced.

"It's one thing to give players a sweatshirt, a product related to where the bowl was," Mr. Rapp says."But when you’re going to give them something that they’re going to be walking around campus using, that's something different. It looks like an endorsement of a commercial product."

Previous

1 | 2