These aren't Consumer Reports, they are subscription driven businesses, and the helmet schools provide the most subscribers. Thanks to Fox News/MSNBC culture, people don't want to hear anything than a validation of their own opinions, so to keep subscriptions up, they have to cater to those large subscriber bases.
A helmet offer used to mean something, and I had no problem with giving a boost there. The issue now is that they have so many offers out, that you never know which ones are real, and you can't boost all of those kids. MSU got an Ohio kid with an OSU "offer" already this cycle, but nobody thought that was commitable.
It's the post-commit boost, that is 100% subscriber pandering, that means very little to me.