Expert: Vic Winnek - 12/2/2008

Question
I was wondering if referees got paid bonus checks from their conferences based on the success of the teams in bowl games?

IE. If Utah makes it to a BCS bowl, will the MWC refs get a bonus or anything similar.

Thanks,

Scott

Answer
Scott,
Thank you for your question.  It is a very good one.  But no, football officials do not get paid bonus checks from their conferences based on the success of the teams in bowl games. They are paid by the bowl committees and not the schools or conferences.

Game officials for Football Bowl games this year (2008) are paid:
$1,800 game fee from BCS bowls and a $1,500 game fee for other NCAA licensed bowls.   They also receive a $100 per diem for three days ($300) plus a watch, ground transportation, the cheapest economy/coach airfare and hotel lodging.  They are not paid any more and do not get to share in the gate or profits nor are they paid bonuses.

Below are the NCAA Post Season rules and regulations concerning Game officials including replay officials.

I hope this answers your question.

Vic Winnek
NCAA Football Official


Officiating Assignment of Bowl Officials

   Officials for postseason football games licensed each year by the Association shall be assigned under the jurisdiction of the College Football Officiating LLC (CFO). The national coordinator along with the CFO will coordinate crew assignments and make any changes to ensure neutral crews are assigned to games after the teams have been invited to participate.

    Any changes necessary will be made in the same group of bowls as the game for which the conflict occurred.

   These tasks shall be performed as quickly as possible after the annual selections of teams to facilitate travel and other arrangements made by and for game officials. The CFO will conduct a teleconference to determine the officiating assignments for all bowls in early December.

  -The supervisors of officials of each conference (assigning agency) shall remind each official assigned to postseason games that he is a guest at the bowl, he should conduct himself in a professional manner similar to the regular season, and that his role is to manage the competition for the benefit of the participating student-athletes rather than become a focal point of the game.

   Each person should be aware of policies that govern the conduct of game officials, particularly as they relate to permissible fees, expenses and amenities. Officials should not expect or request additional items from the game management of the bowl.

   The CFO will not authorize for one or more following years the assignment of any official who does not follow the policies in this handbook or who is not a dignified representative of college athletics while at the bowl site.
 

Assignment Policies

Officials will be assigned under the following guidelines:

1. An organization that is eligible to nominate officials for a postseason football game shall be approved annually by the CFO and meet specific criteria to receive a crew assignment for a postseason football game. It shall:

a. Be a member of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and
ultimately subject to the authority of institutional chief executive officers, or assign varsity football officials for a minimum of eight Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) members;

b. Provide an annual clinic, training and supervision for its officials;

c. Require its supervisor of football officials to attend the annual meeting sponsored by the CCA; and

d. Assign officials for a minimum of eight Division I FBS-playing institutions for three years.
 
2. Bowls are divided into two groups. The first group includes bowls that comprise the Bowl Championship Series (i.e., the Fiesta, Orange, Rose, Sugar and the BCS National Championship). The second group includes all other bowls.

3. Each assigning agency that represents a Division I FBS conference that has a apparel (e.g., socks, headbands, wristbands) may bear only a single manufacturer’s or distributor’s normal label or trademark on the outside, regardless of whether or not this label or trademark is visible. The single label or trademark, including any additional material surrounding it on a patch, must be contained within a four-sided geometrical figure (i.e., rectangle, square, parallelogram) no more than 2¼ square inches in area. This rule does not preclude the use of patches that identify the institution’s conference or the bowl game in which the team is playing. affected officiating crew was assigned.
 
13. Final officiating crew assignments for all postseason football games shall be subject to approval of the subcommittee.
 
14. The supervisor of the assigning conference will identify for game management by fax transmission the names of the officials who have been assigned to the bowl and where each official may be contacted.

15. The sponsoring agency shall distribute basic information that may be found on the NCAA Web site to the supervisor of officials for distribution that includes key contacts for the bowl, lodging information and an opportunity to purchase tickets. It is the supervisor’s responsibility to distribute the information to the officiating crews.

 

Background Checks
   The NCAA’s Agent, Gambling and Amateurism Activities staff administers the background check program. These are conducted on at least 50 percent of all officials assigned to work bowl games. The pool of officials is a cross section of all officiating crews, including replay officals, assigned to work the previous season’s bowl games. This is to ensure that each officiating crew has a least one or more officials selected for a background check.

 

Clock Operator
  The clock operator shall attend the pregame meeting on the day before the bowl game.


Courtesy Automobiles
   Each sponsoring agency shall provide the officiating crew two courtesy automobiles to use during the three days that these individuals are required to be at the bowl site.

Credentials
   Game management shall provide credentials for the officiating crew. The bowl’s executive director will receive a copy of a fax transmission that will identify all members of the crew and where each official may be contacted.
 

Entertainment
   It is appropriate for the sponsoring agency to entertain game officials the day they arrive at the site at any bowl activity that excludes coaches or student-athletes from the participating teams. The day before the bowl, game officials may participate in a breakfast or luncheon that is not attended by coaches or student-athletes from the participating teams, but they shall not be invited to attend evening bowl activities. The night before the actual day of the game, officials are prohibited from attending any bowl-sponsored activity.


The only exception to the prohibition of officials attending an event where team representatives are present is a kickoff breakfast or luncheon, at which they should be segregated from the teams and coaches.

 

Game Fee
   Officials, including the standby, shall receive a $1,800 game fee from BCS bowls and a $1,500 game fee from other licensed bowls. Payment must be received at the game site. contractual relationship that annually guarantees participation in the BCS shall be eligible to assign a crew to one of the BCS games. Neutral-crew assignments shall rotate annually. If a team representing a conference not included in this group participates in a BCS game, it shall receive a commensurate assignment the following bowl season.

4. After the BCS assignments have been made, each remaining Division I FBS conference will be assigned to a bowl game in the second group. These games would be divided geographically east and west. Neutral-crew assignments shall rotate annually.

5. There will be no maximum placed on the number of officiating crews assigned from any one conference to post-season football contests during a particular season.

6. Each FBS conference with a team participating in a postseason football contest shall have at least one officiating crew assigned to work in a postseason football contest during that season.
 
7. At the conclusion of the regular season, each conference shall submit to the national coordinator a prioritized order of officiating crews to be considered for assignment to bowl games. The information listed in paragraph 8 shall be provided for each official nominated and will be considered by the national coordinator in assigning officiating crews to bowl games.

8. The national coordinator shall consider the following criteria in establishing assignments of officiating crews to postseason football contests:

a. The quartile rank of the officiating crew’s members within the conference making the recommendation;

b. The officials’ history of assignment to officiate games televised on a national network;

c. The officials have officiated games with attendance minimally consistent with the average attendance of the assigned bowl game;

d. The officials have been assigned to officiate games involving ranked teams; and

e. In total, every effort should be made to match the three-year performance evaluation history of the members comprising each officiating crew and assignment to games as described in paragraphs 8-b, 8-c and 8-d to the level of television coverage, attendance and national ranking of teams in the assigned bowl. Actual assignments of officiating crews shall be made following announcements of teams participating in bowl games.
 
9. A process shall be implemented for conducting a review of officiating performance in post-season games. The national coordinator and three additional officiating coordinators from FBS conferences, who shall be selected by the national coordinator and shall serve for a period of three years, shall conduct this review. The review group shall complete an evaluation of each post-season game involving controversy or concern. Those evaluations along with a written summary shall be submitted to all FBS conference commissioners within 90 days of the final bowl game.
 
10.The performance evaluation results (from the process identified in paragraph 9 should be supplemental information in determining future postseason officiating assignments.
 
11. Each crew shall include a standby official.

12. When any adjustments in the assignments are required, the officiating subcommittee will attempt to make the new assignment commensurate to the bowl to which the communicator-$500; and technician-$300. They should also receive a $100 per diem for three days ($300).   

   The sponsoring agency for the bowl shall assign a sideline assistant, who will serve as a communicator with the referee when necessary. The sideline assistant shall be provided a fee, to be determined by the sponsoring agency. In addition, the sideline assistant should wear his green conference vest.

 

Per Diems
 Game officials, including the standby, shall receive a $100 per diem for three days ($300) and receive payment at the game site. A sponsoring agency may petition the subcommittee for an exception if local requirements demand more than three days.

 

Practice
Game officials shall not attend any practice session of a competing team.

 

Pregame Meeting
 The game referee and clock operator(s) shall attend a pregame meeting to review administrative procedures, the television format and other items of interest that are listed on the NCAA Web site at www1.ncaa.org/membership/postseason_football/forms.

 The meeting will be organized and chaired by the bowl’s executive director and will include representatives of the participating teams and the television network or syndicator. Officials also may have to attend other meetings as scheduled by bowl management. The crew also will have a private meeting at the hotel or stadium before the game to review officiating mechanics and other details. Game management should consult with the referee to determine if a videocassette recorder will be required for the meeting.

 

Standby Official
   The agency that is assigning the officiating crew for a game shall include a standby official who will receive the same expense reimbursement, per diem and game fee as the other officials.
 
 The minimum duties of the standby official are detailed on the NCAA Web site at www1.ncaa.org/membership/postseason_football/forms.

 

Supervisor of Officials
  The supervisor of officials for the assigning agency shall forward an evaluation of the officiating crew for each game the agency’s crews worked to the NCAA staff liaison for administrative matters.

  If the assigning conference elects to have its supervisor or designee attend a game for which it is providing a crew, the sponsoring agency shall provide a credential that gives the supervisor access to the officials’ locker room and a designated seat in the press box.
 
  The supervisor shall contact the participating institutions to make arrangements to receive a copy of the game video/film.

  Game management is authorized to deduct game fees from gross receipts.

 

Game Management Responsibilities

 Game management shall be responsible for providing the clock operator(s), ball persons, chain crew and television liaison official. Fees and expenses for these individuals shall be determined by game management.

 

Game Tickets

  Each official, including the standby, shall receive two game tickets in a prime location at the bowl’s expense. The sponsoring agency also may make additional tickets available for officials to purchase, at its discretion. Any such requests for additional tickets should be made through the conference supervisor of officials, who shall make the request to bowl management. Officials shall not contact the bowl directly.
 

  Game officials are prohibited from contacting a participating institution to purchase tickets.

 

Gifts

  The bowl game’s management shall present each game official, including the standby official, a watch as a gift. Game management may deduct from gross receipts the cost of the gifts to officials, provided the value is approximately $350 per official.

 

Hotel Accommodations

   Sleeping accommodations for officials, including the standby, shall be reserved at a hotel that will not be used by the official parties of the two participating teams. The media hotel or  “official” hotel of the sponsoring agency of the postseason football game may be used. The expenses for the room and applicable taxes for three nights shall be paid by the sponsoring agency, which may petition the subcommittee for an exception if the hotel requires a longer guarantee. An official may request a reservation for an additional hotel room (if available) at his cost, not the bowl’s.

   

Instant Replay

   Instant replay should be used during the conduct of a bowl game. It has been determined that the conference assigning the game officials shall also assign the instant replay crew.

  It is imperative that consistency be maintained and every effort should be made to avoid the perception that might impact on the integrity of the system. If an unusual and unique situation develops, the assigning conference may recommend to the Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee an exception to this policy.

  The assigning conference shall determine the equipment used for instant replay purposes; however it is highly recommended that the same equipment used during the regular season by the assigned instant replay crew be used for the bowl game. It is the responsibility of the conference supervisor of officials is to make all of the arrangements for the instant replay equipment. If necessary, the bowl is responsible for all equipment shipping charges. Instant replay officials are to be provided with the same amenities (e.g., gifts, lodging, courtesy cars) that are provided the on-field officiating crews.

The instant replay officials should receive the following game fees: replay official-$750;

 

General Licensing Criteria for NCAA Postseason Bowl Games

All sponsoring agencies must agree to meet the following criteria in order to be licensed to conduct a postseason bowl game and must show compliance in order to be relicensed in subsequent years:

 
1. On an annual basis, in an effort to indicate local community support, the sponsoring agency of a postseason bowl game must generate bowl-based revenue equal to or greater than all of the contractual financial commitments from the two participating institutions and conferences.

2. A sponsoring agency of a postseason bowl game shall be required to average, over a rolling three-year period, either actual attendance of at least 25,000 or 70 percent of stadium capacity.

3. Each licensed bowl game that has not distributed an average of $1 million to each of the teams during the preceding three-year period, or did not meet the licensing criteria shall be required to issue an irrevocable letter of credit equal to contractual conference payouts not later than September 1.

4. Sponsoring agencies submitting initial applications must submit an irrevocable $2 million letter of credit with their licensing application (due by April 1).

5. If a sponsoring agency fails to meet each of the licensing requirements, it shall lose its license or be put on probation for one year and, if at the end of that year it has not complied with the requirements, the bowl shall lose its license.

6. It is recommended that the distribution to the two participating teams and conferences meets, at a minimum, the participating teams’ reasonable contractual travel obligations and participation expenses.

 

The following guidelines will be emphasized by the NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee when reviewing applications from prospective sponsoring agencies for postseason bowl games:

1. Conference commitments and conference place finish of the teams to be paired;

2. Value of the title sponsor;

 

Transportation

The sponsoring agency shall transport the game officials from their hotel to the stadium before and after the game. It also shall provide two courtesy automobiles for their use at no cost to them on other occasions.

 

Travel Arrangements

Each game official and the standby official shall receive the lowest available coach airfare as of the date that notification of a game assignment is received. The supervisor of officials (or individual designated by the conference to coordinate officials’ travel) for the assigning conference shall coordinate all travel. The supervisor shall first contact the bowl liaison for officials to discuss the travel options before making firm travel arrangements. No official is to make travel arrangements before receiving instructions from his supervisor.

A game official who uses an automobile to travel to the bowl shall be reimbursed 43 cents per mile round trip, or 86 cents per mile one way, not to exceed coach airfare.

 
Game management is authorized to deduct the expense for each official’s airfare from gross receipts.

Uniforms

Each game official shall wear a standard uniform and is prohibited from wearing anything that identifies the bowl and/or sponsor(s).