The NCAA is rejecting calls to alter its policy allowing beer and wine-cooler spots on college-sports telecasts, saying the policy is already conservative enough.

The NCAA currently allows alcohol advertising for products that don’t exceed 6% alcohol levels—effectively limiting commercials for alcohol to beer and wine coolers. It also allows only 1 minute per hour of any telecast to be devoted to alcohol ads.

The NCAA Division 1 executive committee announced its decision to reaffirm the current policy today after a meeting in Indianapolis, according to an NCAA spokesman.

Some congressmen, school presidents, college coaches and athletic directors had urged the NCAA to further limit—or entirely ban—alcohol ads from TV telecasts of NCAA events.

Anheuser-Busch and SAB Miller are among the top five advertisers during the NCAA’s high rated March Madness basketball telecasts on CBS. The Center for Science in the Public Interest says that according to TNS Media Intelligence, Anheuser-Busch and SABMiller spent nearly $30 million to advertise during the 2007 NCAA March Madness basketball championships.

Further limits on alcohol ads could have threatened the size of the rights fee the NCAA generates from that and other telecasts, potentially impacting scholarship money and school revenues.

The critics, among them Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., had urged NCAA President Myles Brand and the committee to act, saying the amount of alcohol advertising is excessive. They questioned whether alcohol advertising on NCAA programming sends the wrong message.

The Beer Institute and ad groups have said NCAA telecasts are viewed by a mostly adult audience.

The Beer Institute, which has code barring advertising in programming in which 70% of the audience isn't over 21, said Nielsen ratings for the March Madness tourney show 88% of the viewers are over 21, with a median age of 47.

(Editor: Baumann)

(11:10 a.m.: Updated final two paragraphs)