Is there a logical explanation for why Southern University is still waiting on payouts for it’s appearance in last year’s Gulf Coast Classic?
According to the contract between SU, ASU and game organizers, Southern was supposed to receive a $250,000 payout for last year’s game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
But as late as last month, the Gulf Coast Scholar & Sports Foundation, which oversees the game, still owed $103,900 of its payout to Southern, according to school records.
That has changed.
SU Athletic Director Greg LaFleur said that two weeks ago, the foundation sent a check for $70,000.
“Within the next week or two, if not by game time, we’ll get a check for the remaining $33,900,” LaFleur said.
What kind of sideshow arrangement is that? 25,000-plus showed up at the GCC in 2008, which meant that receipts and concessions were not on the paltry end. And if the sponsor roster from 2008 was halfway as robust as the list for this year’s Classic, there’s no way the event organizers, the Gulf Coast Scholar & Sports Foundation, should have come up more than $100,000 short on Southern’s payout.
And even if there was a legitimate reason for the shortfall, does it really take a year to get the money to them?
Tragic.
