Gateway Classic hoping for more

By Bill Smith, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

St. Louis — Disappointed by stagnant ticket sales, the founder of the annual Gateway Classic college football game says he is looking for new ways to boost the amount of college scholarship money his organization gives to local black high school graduates.

Earl Wilson Jr., who has headed the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation since 1994, said scholarship payments have slipped in recent years, largely because of an inability to increase ticket sales for the football game.

The foundation paid out slightly more than $55,000 for scholarships in 2006, down from nearly $100,000 in 2005 and $182,000 in 2004, according to records. The scholarship totals have dipped each year since 2002, when the foundation paid out more than $246,000 to college students.

"It's a challenge," Wilson said recently from the foundation's headquarters at 20th Street and Martin Luther King Drive. "It's always been a challenge." Advertisement

Wilson, 74, said he is constantly looking for new ways to raise money. Possibilities include a National Basketball Association game at Scottrade Center and moving the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. High School Basketball Shootout into a larger facility, such as the soon-to-be-completed arena at St. Louis University.

Wilson also said he is toying with the idea of working with other area nonprofit groups to organize a downtown picnic similar to the annual Strassenfest.

The 3 p.m. kickoff of Saturday's Gateway Classic between Langston University of Langston, Okla., and Stillman College of Tuscaloosa, Ala., marks the 14th anniversary for the fall event between two historically black universities. It also marks the 10th year since the foundation established its scholarship program, which Wilson says remains the organization's top priority.

"You're going to have ups and downs," he said. "The main thing is you're constantly doing something."

The Gateway Classic is one of about three dozen similar black college football classics around the U.S. scheduled for this fall.

Last year, the foundation brought in about $2.4 million, including nearly $1.1 million in noncash, in-kind contributions such as donated advertising and airfare. But the expenses needed to operate the foundation and pay for events took most of the money.

Since its inception, the foundation has distributed nearly $2 million for full student scholarships. Nearly 60 students receiving financial support from Gateway have graduated from historically black universities such as Hampton, Howard, Tuskegee and Lincoln University. The foundation also has donated more than $500,000 to charities, including Mathews-Dickey Boys' and Girls' Club, Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center and the NAACP.

Last year, the foundation committed $237,000, spread over four years, for scholarships to five high school students. Two of those scholarships went to students at McCluer North High School, including Janay Marsh, who attends Lincoln University.

McCluer North Principal Shane Hopper said Marsh is "a good kid" and a "middle-range student" who benefited tremendously from Gateway's help.

"It has given her a big jump-start with her education and her career," Hopper said.

As the Gateway foundation pursues its mission to provide scholarships, it has been managing financial pressures, said Wilson, a retired IBM executive. Two years ago, he reduced his staff from 10 to five.

Wayman Smith, chairman of the Gateway Classic board, said the foundation may have been "overly aggressive" in scholarship commitments. Increasing tuition costs and four-year scholarship guarantees began to stretch the organization's resources.

Wilson said part of the problem was a decision to give scholarships to schools like Tuskegee and Hampton, where tuition can exceed $20,000 a year. In recent years, the foundation has offered more financial support to students attending less costly schools like Lincoln and Harris-Stowe State University.

While the foundation is involved in a variety of fundraising, most of its income comes from the annual football game.

Since the first contest in 1994, ticket sales have averaged about 35,000 per game, with a record attendance of 47,000 in 1996. Last year's attendance was 33,000, the lowest in four years.

As a result, Wilson and the foundation have pushed hard on a campaign to "fill the Dome" with 60,000 fans for this year's contest at the Edward Jones Dome.

Increased involvement of several community leaders, including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley and Archbishop Raymond Burke, has helped push ticket sales to 40,000 as of Thursday, Wilson said.

In an attempt to increase ticket sales further, the foundation is giving away a new car, a round-trip ticket to Paris and several TV sets to winning ticket holders inside the Dome on game day.

"Five years ago, this was the new game in town," Smith said. "Now it's not quite as new; it's not quite as shiny. So you've got to figure out something that makes up the difference."

Wilson said organizers hope they can sell more tickets to the thousands who turn out for pregame tailgating festivities but who never go inside the Dome. He said he is confident he can build wider support for the game and the cause, noting that more than 500,000 blacks live in the St. Louis area.

"I would think the community would be knocking down doors to support us," he said. "But I can't get discouraged."

The foundation has cultivated partnerships with several corporations, but Wilson said the money from those deals has declined. Still, some sponsors continue to support the foundation, such as American Family Insurance of Madison, Wis.

Francisca Brown, multicultural market sales development director for the company and a member of Gateway's board of trustees, said American Family recently signed a three-year commitment with the foundation at "more than $100,000 a year."

The company has been impressed by Wilson's work and likes the idea that scholarship efforts focus on "C" students, Brown said.

Wilson said he hopes the foundation can distribute $80,000 in scholarship money this year.

"It's a struggle" he said. "But it's a good struggle."