Gift suites -- where college bowl game participants "get shopping-like opportunities" -- again headline the 10th annual rundown of the gift packages provided by college football's bowl game organizing committees, according to David Broughton of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The NCAA "allows each bowl to award up to $550 worth of gifts to 125 participants per school each year." Schools can "buy additional gifts that they can distribute to participants" beyond the participant limit. Participants can also "receive awards worth up to $400 from their schools." The gift suites are "set up as private events prior to the game in which game participants, and often bowl VIPs, are given an order form and allowed to select a gift" up to a value "predetermined by each bowl, not to exceed the NCAA limit." About a dozen committees "set up suites in the bowl's host city, usually at the team hotel, while the others are staged by the game's committee on the campus of the participating colleges." The suites "provide a wide range of gifts." Players can "select from electronics, furniture, jewelry, luggage and more." Each suite is unique, and the "slate of offerings has evolved through the years" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/7 issue). Click here for a full list of the gift packages for all 41 bowls.
