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The Big 12 conference might become the Allstate 12. That traditional school logo painted at the 50-yard line of your favorite stadium might become a Merrill Lynch symbol. Oh, and the stadium named after an alum may become Crypto.com Field.
Your university’s iconic basketball jersey? Expect some patches, if not a complete redesign, featuring corporations big and small — from Chevy trucks to the local campus pizza joint.
The NASCAR-ification of college athletics is coming, quickly, as conferences and schools hunt for additional revenue to share with student athletes while maintaining competitive investment in programs, or even just keeping smaller teams alive.
“It’s a scramble for money,” one major conference commissioner said Monday. “Everything is going to be for sale.”
Well, maybe not everything. Some schools and some conferences may try to withstand the sell-out, or practice some measure of restraint — here’s guessing Michigan won’t ditch the winged helmet for a Dr. Pepper symbol. At least for now.
Others might though.
None of this is truly new in the business of sports or even in parts of college athletics, but the scale and the scope of what is to come will be dramatic and at times jarring. What may begin as something subtle will become un-ignorable.
Think about how “The Rose Bowl presented by Prudential” is one thing. The Pop-Tarts Bowl hauling out a giant toaster to lower a live mascot into it only to spit out a giant edible treat that the winning team gets to snack on is another.
Fans are about to see a whole lot more corporate logos on football fields and basketball courts. (David McNew/Getty Images)
College athletics has always been about the money, of course. For the first time though, it is staring at a future that will feature, thanks to a proposed settlement in several lawsuits against the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/the-nascar-ification-of-college-sports-is-on-the-way-whether-fans-like-it-or-not-183437525.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-17 18:34:37
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