Daily Tax Report Features Matthew Sanderson on Orange Bowl Group's Use of Charitable Funds for Caribbean Cruise

Reproduced with permission from Daily Tax Report, 1 DTR G-2 (Jan. 3, 2011). Copyright 2011 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033), http://www.bna.com/.

Orange Bowl Group Used Charitable Funds for Four-Day Caribbean ‘Junket,' Group Says

Posted December 30, 2010, 1:02 P.M. ET

The Orange Bowl Committee used charitable funds to treat Orange Bowl executives and college athletic directors to a summer 2010 Caribbean cruise where no business meetings occurred, according to a Dec. 30 letter from Playoff PAC to the Internal Revenue Service.

Playoff PAC, a political action committee opposed to college football's Bowl Championship Series, called the four-day trip aboard Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas, a "junket" that lacked any business purpose and instead lavished attendees with full-day excursions to Atlantis on Paradise Island and para-sailing over CocoCay, a private island in the Bahamas.

"These records should be useful to the IRS as it examines the BCS Bowls' activities," wrote Playoff PAC, which advocates for a college football postseason.

In a press release, Playoff PAC co-founder Matthew Sanderson said, "Not only is this cruise problematic under federal tax laws, schools are getting fleeced to pay for these frivolous perks."

The letter, signed by Sanderson, is meant to supplement Playoff PAC's Sept. 23 letter to the IRS.