It looks like the Fiesta Bowl is trying to “fix itself”, after all.
In the aftermath of an investigation into the political/financial affiliations between the bowl and state politicians -- which ended in the firing of bowl CEO John Junker (great name) -- the BCS member is doing its best to rectify its wrongs by looking to invoice politicians who received past gifts from the bowl.
The Arizona Republic states that “under state law, lawmakers can accept gifts and free travel as long as they are publicly disclosed. Free tickets to entertainment events are restricted in some cases, however.”
“The Fiesta Bowl intends to invoice elected officials, where appropriate, for the amounts (it) paid for their tickets or other benefits,” bowl attorney Nathan Hochman said in an e-mail to the Republic. “If an elected official disputes the amounts paid by the Fiesta Bowl or the fair market value of a ticket or benefit, we invite them to submit any evidence they have for consideration.”
According to the Republic, some politicians have already paid for the tickets they received and compensations have reportedly ranged in the $1,000-$2,000 mark. Another representative, Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, also says he “immediately” repaid for tickets given to him . On the contrary, the bowl report makes no mention of reimbursements by any politicians and no evidence of any invoices have been found.
There is some question as to whether the Fiesta Bowl can actually force politicians to repay for tickets received, but if they do, it will have to be at the value that was purchased by the bowl, even if the price was above face value (a former Fiesta Bowl lobbyist, HighGround Consulting, has a breakdown of ticket prices for specific games attended by lawmakers. Yet, it is not clear if those are the prices the Fiesta Bowl actually paid when giving the tickets to politicians).
“If the Fiesta Bowl had to pay more than face value to obtain those tickets or other benefits, that higher value is the fair market value and the amount (the lawmakers) will be invoiced, where appropriate,” Hochman said. “As a non-profit . . . the Fiesta Bowl cannot, and will not, ‘look the other way’ and compensate elected officials for the difference of the ticket value.”
The bowl has already compensated those politicians enough.