THE COLLEGE BOWL SYSTEM; Where White Schools Reap & The Black Schools Weep (BFNN)

Submitted by Jack E. Writer on June 24, 2008 - 1:39pm.

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At the point in which racism becomes accepted by the general population, it is at this same point in which racism has become institutionalized. There is no greater example of this then that which we find in the men’s college football bowl system. With billions of dollars at stake, it packages its brand of discrimination and racism as entertainment and offers it to corporate advertisers who in turn are provided with a venue to promote their products and services to consumers worldwide in what has become a global marketplace. In the process, a select group of White Universities reap millions of dollars annually while a vast majority of Black Universities weep as they are confronted annually with budget shortfalls.

College football’s bowl season has become a national, holiday tradition. Many call the gala and festivities surrounding the holiday, bowl games the most wonderful time of the year. Beginning on December 14^th of each year and ending on January 4^thof the New Year, fifty six (56) universities play a total of twenty eight (28) games. At stake annually is approximately $160 million dollars in bowl pay out dollars which are allocated amongst the fifty six select universities, rather their football teams win or lose. Depending on the particular bowl game awarded to and accepted by a universities, the minimum per team pay out is $750 thousand dollars while the maximum pay out is $14.5 million dollars. Noticeably absent from the mix of select universities participating in the annual holiday bowl season is the participation of any predominately Black Universities. The exclusion of Black Universities from participating in any of the holiday bowl games also precludes said universities from receiving the financial benefits which would be provided by the lucrative, guaranteed pay outs.

As are most matters which involve large amounts of money, the process of selecting those universities who would participate in the holiday bowl games is both exclusive and political. Each of the twenty eight bowls are generally governed by a committee who solicit and obtain multimillion dollar corporate sponsorships in exchange for allowing a sponsor to affiliate their corporate brands with the bowls. The bowls under the guidance and direction of their committees establish an annual pool of eligible teams (universities) by aligning themselves with various athletic conferences who are also members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Generally, a team within an athletic conference only needs to win six games to become bowl eligible. Each of the bowls, through their governing committees, then enter into multimillion dollar broadcast agreements with one of the major networks such as: CBS; NBC; ABC or ESPN. Having secured the broadcast rights to some of the most anticipated and highly watched sporting events of the year, the networks recoup their monies paid to the bowls by selling commercial advertising spots to corporate advertisers who are seeking to gain national exposure for the various products and services that they offer. Each of the bowls in turn are now able to make multimillion dollar pay outs to the selected teams from monies received from both corporate bowl sponsors and the broadcast networks.

With the hope of attracting the largest possible viewing audience by which both their corporate sponsors and the broadcast networks would benefit, each bowl committee seeks to select the universities from the athletic conferences which provide the most desirable bowl match ups. As such, predominately White Universities such as: Oklahoma, Southern California, Texas, Michigan, Miami, Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn amongst others each year receive top positioning in the national rankings. Here is where the exclusiveness and politics of the holiday bowl selection process begins to surface. The various bowl committees in charge of securing multimillion dollar corporate sponsorships and network broadcast deals favor those universities that garner the highest level of perceived national public interest. Further, the pollsters, through their national ranking services, rank and re rank those select universities each year so that said universities have favorable positioning in the polls as the bowl committees make their annual holiday bowl selections at the end of the year.

Selection by a university to any of the four upper tier bowls could literally mean millions of dollars flowing into that university, each year simply from playing a ball game. For instance, each bowl pays out the following sums to “each” of its participating teams: Rose Bowl ($14.5 million); Fiesta Bowl ($11 million); Sugar Bowl ($11 million); Orange Bowl ($11 million); Capital One ($5 million); Cotton Bowl ($3 million); Outback Bowl ($2.75 million); Peach Bowl ($2.2 million). A close look at the bowl participants reveals that many of the same select, predominately White Universities generally rotate in and out of the top bowl games each year. These enormous, annual pay outs fund endowments, insure top notch facilities and accommodations. It is no wonder that the annual holiday bowl season is seen as the most wonderful time of the year by many. In most cases the showcase product which attracts the large viewing audiences and makes possible the multimillion dollar corporate sponsorships and network broadcast deals for these universities is, the black athlete.

In contrast, most historically Black Universities struggle to adequately fund endowments, have poor facilities and very often struggle to just keep the doors open. There is no doubt that the big money in college athletics comes from college football. Athletic programs at historically Black Universities look at all the money being thrown around and want to get a piece of the action. There are millions of dollars made on television contracts and corporate sponsorships, and what a difference being a participant in the annual, multimillion dollar holiday bowl lineup could make. Moreover, donors seem to become a lot more giving when they are sipping on a cocktail at the Rose or Orange Bowl. Perhaps a special grouping of holiday bowl games could be organized to showcase the athletes attending historically Black Universities.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA); the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) respectively are three athletic conferences which consist of historically Black Universities. Each year, the universities in these conferences send numerous players to the National Football League (NFL). Amongst their alumni are players such as: Walter Payton; Jerry Rice; Everson Walls; Steve McNair and Doug Williams. These men and many others just like them are amongst the greatest to ever play the game. With such talents, their is no doubt that any proposed grouping of holiday bowl games would have appeal to a large viewing audience which is the key to securing multimillion dollar corporate sponsorships and broadcast network deals.

Again, at this juncture is where the exclusiveness and politics of the men’s college football bowl system surfaces. In order to play, you have to pay. The current major college football bowl system only includes those universities who are members of the NCAA’s Division I classification. In order for universities to compete at the NCAA Division I level, athletic programs have to spend money. To qualify for NCAA Division I level participation, athletic programs have to offer a certain number of athletic programs for both men and women. Further, there are capital improvements such as facility upgrades, and a Division I football stadium has to hold a certain number of people. As it stands, historically Black Universities do not have millions of dollars to spend on athletics. There are several historically Black Universities that only allow their coaches to recruit athletes in-state to keep down the cost of travel. This is an extreme contrast from the predominately White Universities which reap millions of dollars each year from their annual participation in holiday bowl games.

As historically Black Universities try to remain viable and important institutions in American society, perhaps the current college bowl system or a new bowl system can be created to include historically Black Universities. With millions of dollars of revenue at stake, perhaps the barriers to participation installed by the NCAA should be removed. In light of the fact that all holiday bowl games are played at neutral sites with fairly modern facilities already in place, why is it necessary to require schools to obtain millions of dollars of upgrades to their own facilities, as well as, other requirements just to be eligible to play one game?. It is the playing of these single games alone that create multimillion dollar revenue windfalls each year for fifty six (56) predominately White Universities. With a few universities receiving millions of dollars each year for playing a single game, while many others receive none, is it any wonder why the predominately White Universities reap while the predominately Black Universities weep?. BFNN