Colleges look to create revenue as slashed budgets don’t cut it

Aug 11, 2009

Alabama and Virginia Tech on Sept. 5 will play one another in Atlanta in one of the most anticipated games of the 2009 season – a game sponsored by Chick-fil-A. The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, as it is formally known, is expected to attract a sellout crowd to the Georgia Dome, draw a large television audience and bring millions of dollars to both schools. According to The Modesto Bee, the game also could represent something more: the beginning of a trend for a college athletics culture that is demanding new sources of revenue. Today it’s the Chick-fil-A Kickoff at the beginning of the season. Tomorrow, commercialization in college athletics could be something much greater.