How the Billion-Dollar College Football Industry Acts Like a Charity

Investigative reporter Gilbert Gaul got a call from his 82-year-old mother-in-law a few years ago to talk football. A Penn State University graduate and longtime season-ticket holder for the Nittany Lions, she had received offers from the university to upgrade her seats or transfer them to family. Both offers involved charges of thousands of dollars—payments that could be deducted as charitable gifts, Gaul discovered to his surprise.

The phone call launched a reporting journey that Gaul recounts with rollicking humor and an arched eyebrow in "The Unlikely Charity Known as College Football," a chapter in his new book, "Billion-Dollar Ball."