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Cal Poly to pay $480,000 to rid Moriarty’s name from scoreboard

August 20, 2015

ScoreboardCal Poly has agreed to pay $480,000 to remove Ponzi scheme architect Al Moriarty’s name from the scoreboard of the university’s football stadium.

The funds from the settlement will come from the Cal Poly Foundation, not tuition money, according to a statement released by the university. The settlement money will go to a bankruptcy trustee who represents Moriarty’s investors.

Moriarty, the former owner of Moriarty Enterprises, pleaded guilty last year to seven felonies stemming from a Ponzi scheme he ran. Moriarty’s investors are believed to have lost about $22 million.

In 2009, Moriarty paid $625,000 for the naming rights to the Cal Poly scoreboard. The name “Moriarty Enterprises” still appears on the scoreboard, even though the university has been trying to remove it for more than a year.

Al Moriarty

Al Moriarty

A bankruptcy judge has held up the removal of the name, ordering Cal Poly to first settle the lawsuit it faced. The bankruptcy court must still approve the $480,000 settlement to which the university agreed.

Cal Poly’s first home football game in 2015 is scheduled for Sept. 19. The university previously stated in court documents that it hoped to replace Moriarty’s name with “#Cal Poly” or “Go Cal Poly” in time for the start of last year’s football season.

On Wednesday, Cal Poly announced it resolved a difficult situation and regained control of the scoreboard.

“It has been a priority to resolve this matter amicably and to remove the Moriarty name from the campus scoreboard, which has served as a painful reminder to Mr. Moriarty’s victims and to the campus community,” Cal Poly said in the statement.

Moriarty, 82, is due to be released from San Luis Obispo County Jail on Dec. 20, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office website.


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Just add “Professor” above it, it’s a literary reference, look it up.


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Why not just buy a gallon of green paint and make Al paint over his name for part of his community service!


It would be a lot cheaper than $480,000. Geez!


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This is no big deal, the university is thoroughly schooled in how to spend good money after bad.


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$480,00.00 to remove his name and presense upon the score board?! Are you kidding?


Wait, I’ll do it for a thousand bucks and the cost of enough black spray can paint!


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Give me season tickets and I’ll do it for free…


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I believe this money is part of the lawsuit, that was filed to retrieve as much of the stolen money as possible. While Cal Poly unwittingly took the “donation”, it is still guilty of receiving stolen property, for which they must pay all, or in this case some, of the money back.


In reality, it would take a couple of maintenance guys about 20 minutes to unbolt it.


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I’d say to leave it alone. In time there may be other disgraces that may cause for re-thinking their priorites. The “learn by doing” motto doesn’t work if we forget.


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I believe the original deal was that Poly would split the cost with Moriarty. It appears now that they got an even better deal for $480,000 plus the ability to sell naming rights, but they are going to instead keep it for themselves?


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Why don’t they leave his name, add the words “is a crook” after his name and call it a day?


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Cal Poly has agreed to paid $480,000 to the bankruptcy court? But they originally received $625,000 from Moriarty for the “privilege” of having his name on the scoreboard?

If my math is correct the Cal Poly “Foundation” is keeping $145,000 of ill gotten gains.


Learn by doing. And for those of Moriarty’s investors who are being screwed by the bankruptcy courts feckless decision not to demand every penny from the “Foundation”, you have just been “done” by the foundation. Make sure to thank the directors at the next football game.


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This is a really sweet deal for Cal Poly. They took loot he stole from investors, then when time to return it comes around they get a 24% discount! Hey, folks, we’re having a sale today.


This isn’t all of Moriarty’s ill-taken gain that benefited Cal Poly football. He also gave a lot of money to the booster organization, and apparently Cal Poly gets to keep all that.


Isn’t it nice we have such an ethical university administration? Learn by Doing for sure.


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Moriarty bought the naming rights with the defrauded people’s money. Sounds reasonable that they should get some restitution.


Hopefully they’ll do a little better job of due diligence when selecting the next big sponsor.


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