Taxpayers Foot Bill for College Football Bowls

It appears writer Eric Crawford was ahead of the journalistic pack with his article that appeared inthe Louisville Courier-Journal on Black Friday — the one after Thanksgiving, not Christmas.  In Bailout Bowl, Presented By You and Me, he highlighted the many instances in which taxpayers — hence, “You and Me” in his headline — appear to be footing the bill for many of the college football bowl games this month and next.

Here’s a quick rundown:

• Played Dec. 20 in Washington, D.C., the Eagle Bank Bowl featured Wake Forest and Navy in a game in which the Demon Deacons won, 29-19.  But the Midshipmen were not the only losers.  According to Crawford, the bowl was sponsored by a bank that told the Washington Post it would seek some bailout assistance even though its financial position is fairly strong.

• Florida Atlantic defeated Central Michigan, 24-21, in Detroit’s Motor City Bowl Dec. 26.  Sponsored by both Ford and GM and played at Ford Field, the game was clouded by rumors that players from both teams spent much of their free time playing golf at the not-to-far-away United Auto Workers $33 million resort.

• The Capital One Bowl, to be played New Years Day, pits Georgia against Michigan State.  Probably because Michigan State is based in a Big Three automaker state, the bank sponsoring this bowl was approved for $3.55 billion in bailout funds.

• No doubt aided by a $20 billion government bailout, Citi is the sponsor of the aptly-named Rose Bowl presented by Citi which will feature USC and Penn State Jan. 1.

• Finally, and perhaps most fitting, the GMAC Bowl is sponsored by the financing arm of GM.  Coincidentally — not, GMAC recently received almost $6 billion in bailout funds.  What I find odd about this sponsorship, however, is the fact that the game is being played Jan. 6 in Mobile, Ala., the heart of the Foreign Auto Manufacturers Belt.

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For more college football-related news, see these posts:

• Russian Solves College Football Playoff Dilemma
• College Football Bowl Game Predictions Offered

-- Bob McCarty Writes