Will Arizona Immigration Law Boycotts Affect Arizona State Sun Devils Football?

Leaders around the country and the world have been calling for a boycott of the state of Arizona in opposition to the new immigration law, Senate Bill 1070.

The new law is drawing attention in regards to police officers supposedly gaining the power to use racial profiling as a means to cut the number of illegal immigrants living in the state.

The boycott includes, but not limited to, Arizona companies, all events in the state, and any partnerships held with them.

This includes Arizona sporting events.

Arizona's Major League Baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks became the first high-profile target due to former owner Jerry Colangelo contributing money to the Republican Party in recent years, which believed to be a help in passing the new law.

The question is: will Arizona State football be subject to boycotts by fans, media, or traveling teams for scheduled games?

Not likely.

College football in a sense, is a separate world. A world to get away from real life and politics. A world in which you can forget about everything to cheer on your favorite team.

Petty boycotts and politics will not and cannot take that away from Sun Devil fans. Politics and sports rarely mix, and that is not going to change come the 2010 season when it comes to attendance.

Visiting teams also will not succumb to this boycott for one reason, money.

Non-conference scheduling contracts have already been signed well in advance for the 2010 season. Breaking these contracts would cost the visiting school large amounts of money, which none can really afford in today's economy.

Visiting Pac-10 schools, even if they are pro-boycott, will have no choice but to play as scheduled. One of the traditions of the conference is that every team plays one another each season, taking turns every other year for home field advantage.

The only change with the Arizona State home conference games might be the amount of traveling fans. But it is hard to see the die-hard fans not supporting their team because of something irrelevant to college football.

The media is a "maybe" to this question, mainly national television spots. Local coverage will not be affected, but national spots may be in jeopardy if they foresee a possibility of a lower number of viewers tuning into the game.

To boycott the state is one thing, but to boycott a public university's sporting program is another. These events bring in large amounts of money for the school, which in turn are used to better the education for the students enrolled there.

Michael Crow, the President of ASU, publicly announced that he is opposed to the new immigration law. It would be wrong to generalize ASU with the state of Arizona after this recent announcement.

Tempers will flare, demonstrations will be held, protests will form, but nothing can mask the intensity and passion people have for college football.