Amid investigations of financial misuse, Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker was fired on Tuesday, bringing along questions about the future of the Fiesta Bowl’s status as a Bowl Championship Series game. While we’re pretty used to bad press in this state, this news is harder to stomach than most.
BCS executive director Bill Hancock said these allegations — which include $1,200 spent at a strip club in one night, a $13,000 trip to a wedding and a birthday party for Junker that cost more than $30,000 — are severe enough to warrant stripping the Fiesta Bowl of its BCS status.
This would be devastating to the Valley. This bowl game and its prominence are a point of pride to the residents of this state. The Fiesta Bowl, along with the BCS National Championship, is a large draw and brings in millions of dollars in tourism revenue each year.
The state loves to welcome these people not as complete strangers, but as football fans. We want them to experience Arizona’s wonderful climate and hospitality.
This may not happen anymore due to the debauchery of Junker and Co.
Losing the BCS status would do more than just bruise our ego. It would also hurt the Valley’s economy. The four BCS bowls — the Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta bowls — all take turns hosting the BCS national championship game every four years.
This year, the Valley hosted Auburn and Oregon as they played for the title of national champs. The Fiesta Bowl, national championship game and Insight Bowl are estimated to bring in $230 million to our state’s economy.
Other than wild parties, the Fiesta Bowl staff decided to partake in controversial political activities. The bowl reimbursed some of their employees for $40,000 worth of political contributions, according to The Arizona Republic.
Should these allegations be true, the bowl may very well have violated several laws. They include campaign finance laws and a measure that bars non-profit organizations from donating to political causes.
The actions by the bowl executives itself are nothing short of shameful, dishonest and corrupt. But they look even worse when the competing teams’ financial situations are taking into account.
This year Connecticut played in the Fiesta Bowl and rather than getting paid to play in the game, their athletics department ended up losing $1.8 million because it could not meet the ticket sale quota.
This isn’t the first time a team has lost money, either. Ohio State lost $1 million in the Fiesta Bowl in 2009.
So schools that ultimately earned the money and prestige that comes with a bid to the Fiesta Bowl got shafted while the Fiesta Bowl top dogs spent money on lavish adventures.
Unfortunately, we understand Hancock’s desire to take away the Fiesta Bowl’s BCS status — would you want corruption to be synonymous with your company’s national image?
This doesn’t help our disappointment, though. We can only hope that while Hancock decides what to do he will take into account what Arizona has to offer. Stringent regulations and cleaning house would be the desirable consequences for these irresponsible actions, but only time will tell what our fate will be.
