The current HBO Real Sports episode (first airing September 20th) revealed that the BCS’s Sugar Bowl, classified as a 501(c)(3), used charitable funds to make several political contributions to Louisiana’s governor. See HBO Real Sports. PlayoffPAC, a federal political committee dedicated to abolishing the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in college football in favor of a fair, competitive post-season playoff, filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) based on this new information from HBO. Playoff PAC previously filed an IRS complaint against the BCS’s Fiesta Bowl when it was discovered the Fiesta Bowl had used a scheme to funnel funds to political causes. The Fiesta Bowl is under investigation for reimbursing its employees political contributions.
According to the PlayoffPAC release, “Charitiable organizations, such as the Fiesta Bowl [and Sugar Bowl], must not “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements) any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” [26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3)] See PlayoffPAC.
– Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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