Sixteen major concerts that were scheduled to take place next month around spring football games on many campuses have been postponed, after the concert promoter backed out of the events and laid the blame on the NCAA.

MSL Sports and Entertainment, a sports-marketing company based in New York, had guaranteed participating athletics departments, including the University of Tennessee and Texas A&M University, at least $300,000 for promoting a Friday-night concert and Saturday football game.

Major-college football programs already play annual spring football games, many of which draw lots of fans. MSL dreamed up the concerts, as part of a weekend of festivities it called “Gridiron Bash,” to draw even more fans.

The company said it had decided to postpone the events until next fall or spring after learning last week that the NCAA objected to players’ participating in some of the promotions. The NCAA shot back on Sunday night, saying the company had postponed the concerts on its own.

“We never expressed any concern with the actual event being conducted as scheduled,” the NCAA said in a written statement, “but only with the participation of student-athletes as part of the for-profit event.”

According to the NCAA, MSL wanted to use the appearance of football players as part of the event, and did not want to require athletes to pay admission. Both would have violated NCAA rules. —Brad Wolverton