College football begins today with a few games across the nation. On
Saturday the majority of Division I-A teams will take to the field and
will be joined, in one instance, by a political action committee.
Friends
of Coal, a group that aims to promote the coal industry in West
Virginia, is the title sponsor of a game between West Virginia and
Marshall on Saturday. There is nothing unusual about corporate
sponsorship in athletic events – just look at NASCAR or even most
college football bowl games. The problem here is that Friends of
Coal is taking advantage of a captive audience who paid to watch a
football game, not be given propoganda on the need for the coal
industry in West Virginia.
It’s a dangerous line I think that is
being crossed. Imagine if similar groups, on both sides of the
spectrum, decided to jump into the sponsorship game. Could we have the
Planned Parenthood 500 at your next NASCAR event? What about the
Moveon.Org Bowl? Let’s even think ahead to the 2008 presidential race –
The Hillary Clinton for President Classic?
I think I’d rather have my sports sponsorships coming from Nike, Bank of America, or GM Goodwrench.
