Question:
We're looking to do Baseball Bingo this season at some of our games. If you use this at your games, would you please send me rules/directions and how you implement it during the season.
- Jamie Carrig, Barry University
Responses:
For those of you interested in the Baseball Bingo promotion, please see the note below from Trip. I have also discussed the promotion with our Associate Ad in charge of compliance and she has said that we cannot do the promotion based on the performance of the student-athletes. However, I plan on doing it the way Trip suggests below. We plan on using a Bingo game purchased from a store with the numbers being drawn randomly while still having the promotion sponsored by local businesses.
- Jamie Carrig, Barry University
Be real careful as you explore this for baseball. You cannot reward a fan on the basis of a student-athlete's performance, at least, this is the way I have interpreted NCAA Compliance.
We conduct Bingo for Volleyball but we do it randomly. The same could be done for you with baseball. Without rhyme or reason, just call out a letter and number.
- Trip Durham, Elon University
For those of you that wondered why compliance directors discourage the use of Baseball Bingo, please see the information below from the NCAA Manual.
Fund-raising activities involving athletics ability or performance of student-athletes:
Date Issued: Jun 16, 1994
Type: Official
Item Ref: 2
Interpretation:
2. Fund-raising activities involving athletics ability or performance of student-athletes. It is not permissible for an institution to conduct a fund-raising activity in which a financial donation or the awarding of prizes to attendees is contingent on the athletics performance of a specific student-athlete (as opposed to an institution's team) in a competitive event. The committee noted that it is permissible to conduct fund-raising activities that may relate to the performance of a specific student-athlete in competitive events only if the awarding of prizes to attendees or the generation of revenue is not based on how well the student-athlete performs in the competition. [References: 12.1.1 (amateur status), 12.1.2 (forms of pay) and 12.1.2.2 (institutional fund-raising activities involving the athletics ability of student-athletes)]
Forwarding cash to another individual or organization
Date Issued: Oct 07, 1988
Type: Staff
Item Ref: a
Interpretation:
a. Forwarding Cash Prize to Another Individual or Organization:
Reaffirmed that Case No. 9 (administration of cash awards) indicates that cash awarded to an individual based upon athletic ability may not be designated by the individual to be forwarded to another individual or organization; noted further, that the sponsoring individual or organization may not forward such a cash prize to another individual or organization, even if the individual has not so directed when circumstances indicate that the funds were being forwarded or contributed as a direct result of the individual's place finish or performance in a competition.
