The Cotton Bowl has "extended" its association with
title sponsor Southwestern Bell through the 2006 game, in a
deal worth "more than" $8M over six years, according to
Wendell Barnhouse of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. The
extension allows the Cotton Bowl to "maintain its
guaranteed" $2M per-team payouts for the next three seasons,
with that number increasing to $2.5M per team over the
ensuing four years. The current deal, which has one year
remaining, was signed in '96. Last year, the SEC agreed to
a three-year deal with the game, in which a member school
plays a Big 12 school (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/22).
Cotton Bowl exes said that they have sold about 45,000
tickets for the 2000 New Year's game, to be held at the
68,252-seat facility (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/22). The
Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates the '99 game
had a $30M direct economic impact and a $90M indirect
economic impact on the city of Dallas (Cotton Bowl).
NCAA NOTES: USA TODAY's Steve Wieberg reports on the
state of the NCAA, which "faces doubts about its ability to
make and enforce its rules" after several "legal setbacks"
of late. Wieberg: "The association is hearing more and more
questions about the NCAA of tomorrow: should its sphere of
influence shrink [and] should some of its regulatory power
be handed to individual conferences?" S.D. St. Univ. AD
Rick Bay: "I don't want to be a doomsayer. But I think
we're headed, if not toward the elimination of the NCAA,
toward an NCAA that's far different" (USA TODAY, 7/22)....In
Indianapolis, Brian Reinthaler reports that construction of
the NCAA's new headquarters in Indianapolis is 95% complete
after 15 months of work (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 7/22). In
K.C., Blair Kerkhoff writes that "the first wave" of NCAA
employees are beginning to move into the new offices. The
move "will be complete" by August 2 (K.C. STAR, 7/22).
