New Arizona Immigration Law: Is a BCS Boycott Coming in the Future?

The new, recently passed Arizona Immigration Law has created uproar in Washington, D.C., in California, and seemingly countless places in between.  The new law has been perceived as a racially insensitive attack on illegal immigrants. 

Additionally, arguments against the new law state it gives Arizona state law enforcement the means to profile and discriminate against illegal immigrants.

In response to these criticisms, there has been a national swell of outrage to the law and already dissenters have called for boycotts on Arizona companies, economic partnerships, and events.

One recent example of a government body questioning business in Arizona is the Los Angeles City Council, which will debate the future of conventions and economic relationships with Arizona-based companies.

In the sports world, John Amato, writing an emotion-driven piece for the Huffington post, is calling for a boycott of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The article states that former owner Jerry Colangelo and his ownership partners donated money to the state Republican party and thus played a role in the passing of this new law. 

Looking ahead, that begs two questions.  Will this sports boycott grow legs and will it makes its way to the BCS roundtable? Will the BCS actually pull out of its commitment in Arizona?

The 2011 BCS National Championship Game (and the 2011 Fiesta Bowl) will take place at Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium, and already there is rumbling in the Internet ether that the BCS Championship Game should be the next target of Arizona boycotts.

The two games are huge economic boosters for the greater Phoenix area and thus the state as a whole and a boycott would sap the area of possibly hundreds of millions of dollars.

The fact is, however, that such a boycott will never materialize.  Sports and politics are two worlds that very rarely cross paths and it is not going to start in 2011, not with one of nation's biggest sports on that sport's biggest day.

The rationalization is simple.  The BCS National Championship is the biggest cash cow for the NCAA and college football fans will flock to every corner of the country if it means seeing their team hold up the crystal football at the end of the season.

Sports fans have their politics, and they have their sports and the two do not mix for those passionate enough to drop significant coin and personal time following their favorite college football team.

The same can be said for advertisers who invest enormously in putting their brand alongside the BCS National Championship Game and the Fiesta Bowl. 

These advertisers are not aligning their brand with the state of Arizona, but rather the games themselves and the tens of millions of viewers that come with it.

The BCS National Championship Games and BCS bowls are events that are years in the making and come with binding contracts and the expectations of tens of millions of dollars.

Protesters can stomp their feet and wave signs until they turn blue, but the NCAA has a history of making cold, economic-driven decisions. Succumbing and/or committing to a boycott would be an extreme change in policy and behavior.