NCAA Wants More Oversight of Bowl Games

In the wake of reports of corruption in management of the Fiesta Bowl, Mark Emmert, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, has formed a task force to review the process the organization uses to license postseason football bowl games. Unlike with Division I men’s basketball, the NCAA does not officially run the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) postseason. Instead, it simply affirms whether bowls meet certain criteria before allowing them to host member teams. In the past, the financial management of bowls has largely dominated the approval process. Emmert said in a teleconference with reporters Thursday that he would like to expand NCAA oversight of bowls to include a review of their “governance,” “conflict of interest policies” and “advertising standards.” Emmert also announced that, until the task force’s work in revising approval criteria is complete, there is a moratorium on the NCAA’s certification of any new bowl games for “no more than three years.” He noted that the task force -- to be chaired by Harvey Perlman, chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln -- is scheduled to report back to the NCAA Board of Directors at its October meeting.