Taxslayer Bowl Swag

CB3UK

Hall of Famer
Apr 15, 2012
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I've never understood why the bowls hand out gift packages. The bowls have a hierarchy and they select who they want, its not as if they gifts are a means to sway a school to pick one bowl over another. Of course the players love it, but what do the bowls get out of it? Between the payouts to schools, rarely selling out (other than the top tier bowls), and handing out free stuff...how are they even turning a profit? Someone on here has to be more kowledgeable than me and can break down the finances of it all surely.
 

JasonS.

All-American
Oct 10, 2001
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I've never understood why the bowls hand out gift packages. The bowls have a hierarchy and they select who they want, its not as if they gifts are a means to sway a school to pick one bowl over another. Of course the players love it, but what do the bowls get out of it? Between the payouts to schools, rarely selling out (other than the top tier bowls), and handing out free stuff...how are they even turning a profit? Someone on here has to be more kowledgeable than me and can break down the finances of it all surely.


Also, all of the bowls are 501c3's ... they aren't trying to make a profit. They're good as long as a few people get cushy jobs out of it.
 

CB3UK

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Apr 15, 2012
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Also, all of the bowls are 501c3's ... they aren't trying to make a profit. They're good as long as a few people get cushy jobs out of it.
That still doesnt explain what incentive they have to hand out free stuff.
 

StubbornPenny

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Nov 2, 2009
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That still doesnt explain what incentive they have to hand out free stuff.

Read the original response again: they are 501c3's, which means they're a non-profit. Hence they don't want to make any profit. They want to spend as much on junk and cushy jobs as they can in order to not make a profit. The swag bags are really cheap for them, and it's just another way to blow money while they appear to be doing something nice for the players.
 
Nov 7, 2008
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I saw this back whrn the taxslayer became an option... looks like a pretty lame gift set...

...but the bobblehead might be something they cherish forever and hand down to grandkids.
 

Mikey Likes It

All-Conference
Sep 9, 2007
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To be honest the swag from this bowl looks underwhelming. I remember The Music city bowl giving all the players TV's.
 

CB3UK

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Apr 15, 2012
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Can't they just reward the players on a successful season?
Can't a guy be curious and ask a legitimate question without having his head taken off?

Read the original response again: they are 501c3's, which means they're a non-profit. Hence they don't want to make any profit. They want to spend as much on junk and cushy jobs as they can in order to not make a profit. The swag bags are really cheap for them, and it's just another way to blow money while they appear to be doing something nice for the players.
Ahhhhhhh, I didn't realize they had to offload the $ like that in order to keep their non profit status. Thank you for actually answering my question.
 
Mar 23, 2012
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Going by this link, the gift bag our guys get is pretty mediocre. I'd rather have the one with $300 of Best Buy stuff or the one with the Vanilla Visa card.
$300 of stuff from Best Buy is pretty weak given how grossly high Best Buy's markup is. I just go in there to see what type of stuff is available, then if I find something I want to buy, I just go elsewhere to buy it because I know Best Buy will very likely be charging more than anyone else. Much rather get a VISA gift card like the Peace Bowl gives so I can use it somewhere that doesn't rip me off
 
Mar 23, 2012
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Tax Slayer gifts aren't bad but definitely looks like they cheaped out on it compared to many of the other bowl packages. Nothing overly great but some good, practical stuff.

Bobblehead is pretty freaking great if they don't botch it. How many of us are ever going to get our own personal bobblehead without having to spend a fortune on it (relative to bobblehead costs)? No one else is getting anything personalized and unique like that other than the one giving out Fatheads of each player.
 

TBCat

Heisman
Mar 30, 2007
14,317
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That still doesnt explain what incentive they have to hand out free stuff.
I don't know the history behind it but I would bet it's a relic from the old bowl days when the bowls were Orange bowl or Peach bowl, etc. I bet several local companies gave away free stuff as an advertising gimmick. Say for example a local Orange juice company would give stuff away for the orange bowl just to get their name involved.

Now the companies put their name on the bowl as the advertising gimmick but it is likely the tradition of giving stuff away is still part of the event.
 
Mar 23, 2012
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Some of these gift packages are really lame. Like Bass Pro Shops shopping trip? Like WTF would I even buy there? I'd probably end up buying VISA gift cards if they allowed it and if they had those. If not I don't even know what I would do. I know I wouldn't be the only one like that.

And a $300 Microsoft gift card? Just went to Microsoft's online store, literally not a single thing on there I want other than Movies and Music. $300 on movies and music is kinda ridiculous though. Reckon I could use it to a Surface Pro 4, but the cheapest one is $700 and that is just 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and that's just junk these days. Doubt any of these kids has a Windows Phone (because LOL). Many will have Macs. Hopefully the ones with Macs have an XBox because the gift card will be equally useless for them as well.

The one that gives an Apple Watch is great...if you have an iPhone. Given how many more Androids are sold than iPhones, methinks a lot of players are going to be left with a useless $400 watch.
 
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KyCatFan1

Heisman
May 6, 2002
30,808
31,521
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Maybe it is just me, but I think a bobblehead is pretty lame for a gift. You can get one of them personalized for under $100 (more like $70). The sunglasses are probably between $100 to $150. Football for about $25. You can get a decent carry on bag for about $35. The best gift is the watch and those range from around $100 to $300. The $300 watch is a smart watch. I'm going to guess the watch is upper end to get it around the $550 range.

I definitely would prefer a Visa or Best Buy gift card. For the person who said they wouldn't want a Best Buy card because of the prices, have you heard of price matching? I always get them to match any lower price I come across.
 

Poetax

Heisman
Apr 4, 2002
29,410
20,887
0
$300 of stuff from Best Buy is pretty weak given how grossly high Best Buy's markup is. I just go in there to see what type of stuff is available, then if I find something I want to buy, I just go elsewhere to buy it because I know Best Buy will very likely be charging more than anyone else. Much rather get a VISA gift card like the Peace Bowl gives so I can use it somewhere that doesn't rip me off

Exactly, $300 could be 4 or 5 PS4 games.
 

jauk11

Heisman
Dec 6, 2006
60,631
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How about the impact on a city of having 20,000 (or much more) tourists in town that wouldn't be there otherwise, they spend money. Also I am sure ESPN etc has to pay quite a bit for broadcasting rights. and the bowl games give then a lot to talk about leading up to the games. Even UK gets some coverage.
 

willievic

All-American
Aug 28, 2005
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Read the original response again: they are 501c3's, which means they're a non-profit. Hence they don't want to make any profit. They want to spend as much on junk and cushy jobs as they can in order to not make a profit. The swag bags are really cheap for them, and it's just another way to blow money while they appear to be doing something nice for the players.

I guarantee that the officers of the Corporation are being paid very well.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!
 
Mar 23, 2012
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Maybe it is just me, but I think a bobblehead is pretty lame for a gift. You can get one of them personalized for under $100 (more like $70). The sunglasses are probably between $100 to $150. Football for about $25. You can get a decent carry on bag for about $35. The best gift is the watch and those range from around $100 to $300. The $300 watch is a smart watch. I'm going to guess the watch is upper end to get it around the $550 range.

I definitely would prefer a Visa or Best Buy gift card. For the person who said they wouldn't want a Best Buy card because of the prices, have you heard of price matching? I always get them to match any lower price I come across.
I'm sure it's a commemorative football, not just some random football you can go into Walmart and buy.

But yeah that watch being a smart watch is definitely a game changer. The Fossil smartwatches retail between $275-$315, though iPhone users generally aren't going to want an Android smartwatch. Wonder if they are allowed to sell them?
 
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Mar 23, 2012
23,493
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Maybe it is just me, but I think a bobblehead is pretty lame for a gift. You can get one of them personalized for under $100 (more like $70). The sunglasses are probably between $100 to $150. Football for about $25. You can get a decent carry on bag for about $35. The best gift is the watch and those range from around $100 to $300. The $300 watch is a smart watch. I'm going to guess the watch is upper end to get it around the $550 range.

I definitely would prefer a Visa or Best Buy gift card. For the person who said they wouldn't want a Best Buy card because of the prices, have you heard of price matching? I always get them to match any lower price I come across.
They won't match prices on Amazon unless the product is sold directly by Amazon. That negates a lot of the price saving abilities. Plus, given I have an Amazon Rewards card, even if Best Buy matches the price, it still pays more to buy off Amazon, though obviously that would not apply if using gift cards of any variety.
 

UKGrad93

Heisman
Jun 20, 2007
17,437
22,789
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I overheard a couple of Iowa players complaining about getting iPads for a bowl game a few years ago. They were also upset that travel arrangements had been made for them. It cut their vacation short.

One of the guys said his dad played in the 1980s and was able to walk away with a few hundred in cash.
 

StubbornPenny

All-American
Nov 2, 2009
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I guarantee that the officers of the Corporation are being paid very well.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

Oh absolutely. Cushy jobs all around. That's where most of the money goes. And I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of the giveaways are overcharged and the money ends up in some slush fund. The bowls are borderline criminal.
 

RUPPsRevenge1

Junior
Mar 17, 2008
2,152
241
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I'm not here to do your homework for you, but there is a number one for everything. Reese Bobby said it best, "If you're not first, you're last ." Shake n bake

https://www.google.com/search?q=bobblehead+industry+leaders&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

Just because you finish first in a google lineup doesn't make you the best. The hard work of one or two artists that devoted their life to the craftsmanship of the bobble head industry makes you the best. These men and women gree up with a passion for bouncy heads and their hard work should not be devalued by a simple google search.
 
Mar 23, 2012
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I'd rather have a personal bobblehead and a commemorative football and watch 20 years down the road than some cash card or Best Buy card to buy technology that will be obsolete in a matter of months or just plain waste cash.
The technology won't be obsolete if it's serving your needs/wants. Like my 2012 Macbook Pro. Is there better technology out there now? Of course. But this Macbook is still plenty sufficient of filling my needs and wants so it's not even close to being functionally obsolete.
 
Feb 21, 2006
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Free stuff is always good, but what's the deal with bowl's giving away Footballs?

I mean seriously, these kids have been playing with footballs all their life.