U Of Iowa Athletics, Anheuser-Busch At Odds Over Beer Signs

The Des Moines Register, Jens Manuel Krogstad

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120830/NEWS/308300118/1091/SPORTS02/University-Iowa-Busch-revisiting-beer-signs

IOWA CITY, IA. — University of Iowa President Sally Mason said Thursday that problems with Anheuser-Busch complying with a sponsorship deal do not mean the agreement is inconsistent with the university’s efforts to promote safe and legal alcohol use.

Banners sporting the university’s Tiger Hawk logo and promoting “happy hour specials” and bottles of Bud Light beer were removed from downtown bars and restaurants this week. U of I athletic director Gary Barta, however, told Presidential Committee on Athletics members that the banners were taken down because no one in his department had given approval for them.

The advertisements are part of a corporate sponsorship deal signed this summer that allows the beer giant to use the Tiger Hawk logo in some promotions. Barta said he has met with Anheuser-Busch officials to work out a compromise that satisfies both parties.

Mason told the committee, which was created to advise her on matters like this, that the high-profile efforts to combat underage and binge drinking in the community have never been about abolishing alcohol.

That’s why, she said, she’s comfortable with the sponsorship as long as Anheuser-Busch complies with its terms.

“I believe Anheuser-Busch’s restrictions on use of the Tiger Hawk logo, with the message about drinking responsibly, are consistent and reasonable,” she told the committee.

The posters are part of a four-year exclusive marketing contract the university has with Hawkeye Sports Properties, a private company owned by Missouri-based Learfield Communications, that will pay the athletics department $114 million through 2026.

Barta said the sponsorship deal treads middle ground between those who want to abolish alcohol and those who think restrictions have gone too far. He said he has supported rules to make football game-day tailgating more family friendly, and a ban to keep people younger than 21 from entering bars.

“I’m very comfortable with the approach I’ve taken,” he said. “One of our great partners for 20 years — and I say great, I know there are some who disagree — is Anheuser-Busch.”

Some members of the committee, however, made clear their displeasure with not being consulted before the sponsorship was approved this summer. Some also expressed displeasure that a deal with an alcohol company even exists.

Mason said she would go to the committee if similar matters arose in the future. The deal seemed straightforward when it was approved, because it was the renewal, with amended terms, of an existing partnership, she said.

“Next time this comes up, I’ll come to the committee. I’m going to get some advice; I’m going to hear from you,” she said.

Committee Chairman Bill Hines, a law professor, said members who met in a private executive committee meeting were satisfied that they’ll have the president’s attention.

“Like any advisory group, someone has to ask for our advice for us to be engaged,” he said. “The president has indicated to you that she’s quite willing to receive gratuitous advice you want to offer.”

Michael O’Hara, a psychology professor and committee member, said he was “very, very disappointed” to hear about the deal through the media. What troubled him most, he said, was that it was approved even as the university community continues to battle alcohol abuse.

Although Mason and Barta touted some progress on this front, O’Hara said the university’s reputation still needs mending. He noted that last week the Princeton Review rated the U of I as the nation’s second-best party school. The beer sponsorship, in that sense, only hurts the university, he said.

“I don’t really believe (the deal) is going to increase underage drinking or binge drinking. “It’s the message,” he said. “This only reinforces the link that Iowa’s the place if you really want to have a good time.”