At this point we'd be lucky to get Chico's Bail Bonds as a sponsor.  Maybe GW Basketball brought to you by Manouche hot dogs?  

It is one thing for a team to have its "official car dealership of the Colonials" or "official methadone clinic of the Colonials" sponsorships, but it is quite another to be named for a sponsor. This is very common in Europe (why do you think it is "Bayern Munich"? Cavs´ team in Spain is not "Tenerife" but "Lenovo") and in Japan and South Korea (where teams are a division of their corportate overlords-- "Yomuri Giants" for example).
The danger here is where to draw the line? Ads a la NASCAR on the uniforms? Do we want it to be "The GWU School of International Affairs by Blackwater"? We know college sports are neck-deep in sleazy money, but do we will really want collegiate athletics to be about turning kids in to corporate shills instead of students getting an "education" while playing sports
 

The snarky response is that MSU needed all the money they can get because they have to pony up the $$$ for the Larry Nassar settlement.

However, as was discussed in another thread, unfortunately schools are pressed to keep upping the ante to stay competitive with their rivals.  If you want to fly your assistants around scouting, charter private flights for every game, build exclusive practice facilities, and pay coaches $5+ million per year, you need all the revenue sources you can get.  Especially revenue sources that can stay internal to athletics and don't have to be shared with the general university and those pesky professors.  I really don't see a de-escalation coming any time soon; there's just too much money to be made.  

The arms race has affected my perspective on GW basketball in that I really don't pay much attention to BCS hoops.  They're just on a whole 'nother level in terms of recruiting and finances that it's really just a waste of time thinking most schools in the A-10 outside of maybe Dayton and VCU can realistically compete.
 

Last edited by GW0509 (3/12/2021 7:18 pm)