Gridiron Bash events canceled

MSL Sports and Entertainment announced Friday that all Gridiron Bash events, which were to take place at 16 NCAA Division I schools this month, have been canceled.

The University's Gridiron Bash event was to take place on April 11, the night before this year's A-Day game. It would have included a pep rally in Bryant-Denny Stadium involving football coaches and players and a performance by the Million Dollar Band, followed by a live performance by country music star Alan Jackson.

"While we are very disappointed that the Gridiron Bash has been canceled, we very much appreciate the tremendous support of our fans," UA Director of Athletics Mal Moore said in a press release. "Our ticket office will issue ticket refunds very soon."

Those who have purchased tickets for the event can receive a refund from the University's ticket offices or www.gridironbash.com.

MSL President Shawn Garrity said they deemed it appropriate to cancel the events after several participating schools decided to not allow players to take part due to a possible NCAA rules violation.

"The issue over player participation has caused confusion among the schools during this critical window of time in which they had left to properly promote the event," Garrity said in a press release. "With valuable time being lost awaiting NCAA clarification, we felt it was in the best interest of all parties involved to allow our participating universities and their marketing partners more time to adequately prepare for this event, the largest college football celebration in history."

According to a press release, MSL considers this decision to be a postponement. They are looking into the possibility of rescheduling the Gridiron Bash for during the regular season this fall or before the spring game next year.

"Lack of participation by the football team would be detrimental to the fiber and essence of what this event is all about," Garrity said. "Our decision to cancel the April 11 date was reached by our desire to preserve the long-term integrity of our brand and hold true to our promise that Gridiron Bash is not a concert, but a football celebration with the added benefit of a live music element."

The Gridiron Bash was also a competition between the participating schools. The competition was to be a combination of the number of text message votes each school received and attendance at the events.

The winning school was to receive a $1 million donation to its general scholarship fund, and the first and second runners up would have received $500,000 and $250,000, respectively.

The University was leading the fan voting at the time of the cancellation, with 86,575 votes. The second-place school, Texas A&M, had received 29,172 votes.