PALO ALTO, Calif. — Stanford University has removed all commercial advertisements from its football stadium and basketball arena because of concerns over the commercialization of college sports.
The practice generated revenue for the athletics department for 20 years, but university president Gerhard Casper raised concerns that college athletics is becoming "part of a vast entertainment industry."
"We have to remember the emphasis is on students, and not athletes in this context," he said.
"I thought there was too much of it," he added. "It's one thing to have a logo. It's quite another thing to have these big signs all around."
Casper said the ban would not extend to uniforms which display corporate logos because the athletic department needs the income from the companies that pay to have the logos displayed. Banners that promote Stanford events or identify media outlets that broadcast events can stay as well.
The university said it is unsure how much revenue will be lost. Stanford athletics has more than 120 paying sponsors.