The Zips' creative promotion to let a season ticket holder call the first offensive drive of the season has taken an ugly turn. After the finalists were revealed Wednesday night, accusations of a rigged contest are flooding social media, with many fans crying foul over the inclusion of two well-known internet personalities.
Barstool Sports' Dan "Big Cat" Katz and Bordeaux, a college football content creator with over 100,000 followers, both made the cut. The Athletic's Chris Vannini reported that Akron announced the finalists, noting that one spot opened up after a 10th finalist withdrew, leaving nine contenders.
Akron quickly pushed back against the backlash, insisting the process was above board. Vannini shared that the school's accounting department, not the athletics staff, conducted the drawing. He also noted that Big Cat has claimed to have purchased eight season tickets, which would mathematically boost his odds.
But fans aren't buying it. One frustrated supporter wrote, "Ah yes. Coincidentally it's two people with a social media following that will create buzz around Akron. Shocker." Another demanded a refund, saying, "Rigged celebrity contest. It wasn't about the normal people it's about famous people to boost them up. The people wanna see a 20 something college kid or a 30 year old dad and gets a experience of their lifetime not famous people."
The skepticism doesn't stop there. "Yeah two people who have a big following shocking. A dude who lies about where he's from and is a fake fan of a NFL team," one critic wrote, while another added, "Akron had to chance to actually build off this and decided to throw it all away for big cat and Bordeaux. Not even people worth blowing your spot up for."
This isn't the first time a sports promotion has sparked outrage. Just last month, US Open ticket prices drew similar fury, and the Ole Miss playoff ring controversy showed how quickly goodwill can evaporate.
For Akron, the contest was supposed to be a fun way to engage fans and boost season ticket sales—and it did just that. But now the program faces a public relations headache, with many feeling the spirit of the promotion has been compromised. Whether the final vote will still go to a regular fan remains to be seen, but the damage to trust may already be done.
