Corporate sponsors preserve tradition

By The Editors
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 5, 1997
Athletes have become businessmen.

It seems as if the love of the game has been lost in squabbles over $100 million contracts, free agency and shoe deals.

But as our heroes are swept away by the rising flood waters of capitalism, true fans of sports are holding on to the staid tradition of amateur athletics. They turn to the college game as the last bastion of purity.

That's why many fans across campus and throughout the Tucson community have been speaking out against the Cellular One logo that appeared on McKale Center's basketball floor this summer.

The corporate demons have crept in and left a scar, defiling the sanctity of our temple. What's next, the Jim Click Arizona Stadium?

For every legendary program like Kansas or Kentucky, there is a stadium, a home floor, that has added to the team's lore.

McKale has certainly played a significant part in Arizona's rise to college basketball's elite, but it has never held the mystique of Allen Field House or Rupp Arena.

A corporate logo on McKale's floor won't crumble any ivory towers or peel the ivy off any walls.

McKale is a modern arena. It lacks that mystic ambiance that binds an entire student body to its team and its stadium.

Lets face it, more than any other building on campus, McKale Center belongs to the entire community. Just look around at the faces in the crowd.

The UA needs those faces in the crowd to support its athletics programs; they represent real, consistent support for the Athletics Department. That support means money.

College athletics has become a big business. It takes money to play, more money to be competitive. Without that revenue, there can be no weights facilities, no training rooms, no stadium upkeep and renovation, no equipment - in short, no college athletics.

It's also important to remember that of the 18 varsity sports teams at the University of Arizona, only football and basketball generate revenues that exceed expenditures. But divers, hurdlers, tennis players and golfers need money too.

Enter the corporate sponsor.

Cellular One is paying $243,000 a year for three years to place an advertisement on the basketball floor. About $500,000 of that will pay for a new basketball floor and the rest goes into the general revenue fund to support all sports.

Essentially, this allows sports like gymnastics, soccer and baseball to piggyback on the success of the basketball team.

True UA sports fans and believers in amateur athletics should support the Cellular One logo. After all, the school has had a contract with Nike and others for some time. Corporate sponsorship is nothing new; even so, our athletes still don't look like NASCAR drivers. The benefits of corporate endorsement far outweigh any costs.

It's like the local pharmacy sponsoring your little league team. A certain give and take springs up; fans associate Cellular One with Arizona athletics, while Cellular One customers receive constant, subtle advertising for UA sports.

Sponsorships and modern amateur athletics run hand in hand. The partnership allows us to preserve the amateur tradition.