Does This Cross a Line Between Athletics and Academics?

The University of Iowa was running a promotion offering students a chance to win free tuition. To become eligible they had to purchase season tickets to Iowa football games. Five grand prizes were to be awarded. I think we all see the strategy behind it, but there were some legal concerns, so the school scrapped the idea. The main concern was whether the promotion complied with state raffle laws, although I have to believe there were other objections about playing favorites with the football program. If kids buy season tickets to the music department's concert series, shouldn't they be eligible, for example? But for now, questions over state laws were penalty flag enough. Ticket sales to Hawkeyes games have dropped in recent years.  DB