TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Snoop Dogg has nearly as many ties to football as he does to rap music.
The entertainer coached youth football for years and created the Snoop League, an after-school program for inner-city Los Angeles youths. Snoop has been a guest analyst on football broadcasts and his son, Cordell Broadus, played Division I football.
When Snoop took his latest step, becoming the sponsor of a bowl game, he had a demand: Find a way for all players in the game to receive name, image and likeness (NIL) money.
“This was Snoop’s idea,” said Kym Adair, executive director of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice. “He was having conversations with people he knows in the college football world, and I got a call that said he wants us to be the first bowl to make this commitment, and that’s what we did.”
The beneficiaries are Colorado State and Miami (Ohio), who will conclude their seasons Saturday at Arizona Stadium in the Arizona Bowl. The bowl is classified as a 501(c)(3), so all revenue goes to charity. And, being one of the few bowls not tied to ESPN, it opens the door for unique sponsorship opportunities.
The bowl was previously sponsored by Barstool Sports and the digital media company used its own cast of characters on the broadcast, which was streamed on its digital platforms.
Snoop Dogg takes over this year. The rapper/entertainer is the latest celebrity to sponsor a bowl, following the footsteps of Jimmy Kimmel and Rob Gronkowski at the LA Bowl.
And, Snoop being Snoop, he wanted to put his own spin on his own bowl.
“College football fans are exhausted by the constant talk around NIL, conference realignment, coach movement, transfer portal and super conferences,” Snoop said in a video posted on social media. “So it’s time that we get back to the roots of college football — when it was focused on the colleges, the players and the competition, the community, the fan experience and the pageantry.”
With that will be an NIL component.
The bowl can’t pay players just for playing in the bowl, but both teams participated in football clinics on Friday and will get paid for their services. Other bowls have given single players NIL opportunities, but this is believed to be the first to offer it to every player on both teams.
“I love the fact that the Arizona Bowl is unique and tries new things, and obviously having Snoop here is unique,” Colorado State coach Jay Norvell said. “The NIL component, it’s the future. It’s what football has become now. We think it’s fantastic for our kids and then the interaction with the kids is the hidden gem of the whole thing.”
The NIL component of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl comes a month after a similar effort in The Players Era Festival basketball tournament in Las Vegas. The eight-team tournament said it paid out $9 million in NIL money to participating players for activities outside the competition. It also offered $50 million in NIL opportunities over the next three years for services and activities compliant with NCAA regulations.
Are the Players Era Festival and Arizona Bowl the start of a new future? It is not out of the question in big-time college athletics, where schools are already preparing for the era of revenue sharing with players next year.
“Revenue sharing between the players and the athletic departments is already on the horizon, so whether that takes the place of these types of arrangements or they’re completely separate has yet to be determined,” Adair said. “We’re just trying to be flexible, ahead of the curve and make an impact any way we can.”
Just the way Snoop wants it.