This week there has been much criticism in the news regarding the sponsorship of college football bowl games by businesses receiving federal assistance due to the current financial and economic crisis.
The critics argue that these companies should not be wasting taxpayer dollars on such frivolous activity and should be tightening their belts to weather the current storm. Some news agencies have gone so far as to headline their stories as “bailing out the bowl games.”
I have a problem with this position because it flies in the face of the purpose for economic assistance, which is economic stimulus. These companies are sponsoring bowl games as part of their overall approach to marketing their products and services. It has never been more important than it is now, in this media-oriented age, to get your name out there if you want to be competitive in the marketplace. That is what these bowl sponsorships are about. These companies, especially consumer product based companies like the autos, have to continue their marketing efforts in order to become successful again.
In fact the bowl games themselves are an economic boon to the localities in which they occur. The sponsorship dollars from General Motors, Ford and other companies not only perpetuate this economic stimulus but actually increase it. The truth is that these expenditures are doing exactly what the government intended.
