Beer ads during televised NCAA sports are here to stay

ESPN has posted an article about beer advertisements during games on television, and the potential for NCAA fantasy sports.

Beer ads will continue to pay for college sports telecasts, and college fantasy leagues could become the next real moneymaker on Web sites.

On Thursday, the NCAA's executive committee decided it couldn't eliminate alcohol advertising, nor could it stop the incorporation of college sports into the fantasy games and decided, essentially, to retain the status quo.

Personally, I find beer ads to be okay. The target audience of NCAA basketball is not just college-age students, but adults as well (the ones with the money in their pockets).

Beer companies are one of the few industries still thriving today in America, and their advertisement money really boosts revenue. Take the Super Bowl, for example. Doesn't it seem like every ad is either for Budweiser, Bud Light, or their competition? That's because, for the most part, it is.

Understandably, the image of alcohol during college broadcasts can set a bad precedent for youth watching the games, and give college students another reason to kick back a cold one.

As long as beer continues to be banned at games at ASU and around the country, I can't imagine a mere advertisement on television being too much of a problem.

One quote, however, did pique my interest. In a letter from the schools that find the ads to be disturbing, they had this to say.

"Alcohol and college sports are a bad mix."

I found this humorous only because of the immense amount of tailgating that occurs outside every college football stadium in America, every Saturday. Should they ban tailgating and alcohol consumption in the parking lot, then this quote would hold more weight. Until then, these are empty threats and foreboding language from an entity that enjoys the revenue of beer advertisements far too much to ban them.