Collegiate Times

A major sponsoring partner with Virginia Tech Athletics handed out about 2,500 promotional posters inside Lane Stadium last weekend during the first home football game, while students and ticket holders are strictly forbidden bringing their own homemade signs.

The Hokiesports Web site clearly states in the football fan guide, "Banners, signs and flags will not be permitted in Lane Stadium/Worsham Field." Associate athletics director for internal affairs Tom Gabbard offered an explanation of the inconsistency.

"The reason for our banner rule is for visual purposes," as certain signs could impede fans view of the field, Gabbard said. "If somebody wants to slip something in their pants and get it in the stadium then that's probably going to happen. Are we going to catch one in 60 thousand, ten in 60 thousand? No. They were in there but they shouldn't have been. Our policy prohibits it. We shouldn't have allowed it."

This contradictory treatment of sponsors and paying ticket holders could possibly violate first amendment rights, said Megan Rhyne, acting director of Virginia Coalition of Open Government.

"It's perfectly OK under the first amendment to have a time, place and manner regulation in place, that may restrict freedom of speech, but does so in the least restrictive means," Rhyne said. "They applied the policy in a non-content neutral way. I would think that it would require some explanation by the administration as to why their supposedly on its face neutral policy is being applied in an inconsistent manner."

Tech athletics sold the multi-media rights, including all sponsorships, to ISP Sports, a national sports marketing company. Through their partnership with Tech athletics, ISP controls all material relating to sponsorships and advertisers. The orange and maroon "Go Hokies" signs passed out at the game were sponsored by Terrace View apartments, a partner with ISP.

"We are partners through ISP sports so we consider (Terrace View Apartments) our sponsors as well," said Tim East, associate athletic director for external affairs. "We've worked with ISP to sell the rights for promotional items, and so they must have thought (the Terrace View posters) would be a promotional item, not a quote-unquote poster or banner."

Terrace View apartments manager Emma Calvert said she can not speak with the media because of a company wide policy. Stonemark Property Management, the parent company of Terrace View apartments did not return multiple phone calls for comment.

ISP assistant vice president and general manager Rick Barakat left a voicemail deferring his comment to Gabbard. Jeremy Wells, assistant director athletics for marketing and promotions said he is not authorized to speak with the media, and declined to talk on the record on the topic of the Terrace View posters.

Tech has implemented the no-signs, banners, posters, and flags rule for over a decade, Gabbard said. These posters were classified as "promotional items" which are generally allowed in the stadium. Promotional items are funded by Tech athletics sponsors, and usually handed out inside the stadium by ISP or employees of the advertising company.

"This has opened up an area of discussion for us," on how to define future promotional items, and strategy to more stringently employ their own ban on posters, East said.

"Posters, in my definition, would be the team posters that we print with the schedule on it. More times than not it has a sponsorship on it. We hand those out at various sporting events. But they're not something that people hold up during the game, it's something for them to place on their walls in their homes," Gabbard said. "Promotional items (at games) are normal. It ended up that this could really easily be classified as a banner so we'll have to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Smith's Landing Apartments handed out "Hokies Prevail" posters almost identical to Terrace Views', last season outside of Lane for ESPN GameDay's appearance on campus. To Easy and Gabbard's knowledge, this is the first time the poster-style advertisements have been handed out inside Lane. Gabbard assured it will be the last time, as well.

"We probably should have caught it," Gabbard said. "But we didn't."