Only if the Rose stops expecting to always have their 5pm Eastern kickoff no matter if they’re in the CFP or not.
Is the bowl system sustainable?
- Thread starter Gamecockben1979
- Start date
Only if the Rose stops expecting to always have their 5pm Eastern kickoff no matter if they’re in the CFP or not.
Not if they are done regionally. But if we’re being perfectly honest Alabama and Georgia have played in the Rose Bowl in recent memory and the casual fan is not ever going to be able to afford that. You’re going to need to have good income to shell out a trip to Pasadena. I’ve done it once, but only because of a business trip by my spouse that allowed me to tag along for close to nothing.
In all sports the lower decks are mostly for corporations in the regular season and the fans are in the upper deck. Once a playoff or championship game comes in to play, it’s about who can pay top dollar.
And only the richest Pitt fans would be able to shell out the $$$ to travel to Athens for a second round playoff game. But then, if you allocate tickets to the visitors like you would to any regular season game, UGA would have no problem, selling whatever balance may be left of the 10k tickets Pitt couldn't sell.
Even if the neutral sites were "regional", most fans wouldn't be able to make it beyond one weekend. And as geographically dispersed as many conferences are today, there's little regional about them. At the SEC's founding, member schools hailed from FL, GA, TN, KY, AL, MS, and LA. And that was pretty spread out.
How does regional work when you get a matchup of Utah vs UGA, ND vs Wake? These are very likely some of the matchups we’d have seen in round one of the playoffs this year.
Those would hopefully occur in later rounds. Will there be quirks, sure. But let’s not pretend that Utah hasn’t come all the way east and Notre Dame hasn’t zigzagged the country for its entire existence.
Maybe so but that’s life in general. The richest fans can’t afford to stay in Omaha for two weeks. If you can afford it, go. If you can’t, then there will be a chance to watch it on TV.
Everybody doesn’t get a chance to experience everything in life. The rich get more. The poor get less.
The fans will show. If we’re good enough I’ve seen our fans ten hours away from home for a football game. I’ve been to the Final Four in Phoenix and saw plenty of Gamecocks on one week of notice from playing in New York (which wasn’t cheap either).
This is the right answer; follow the money. However it may take time depending on the pockets of the particular bowl committee. Remember the year the Heritage golf tournament didn't have a sponsor? They managed for one year but could not do that very long. Conversely, the Masters/Augusta National has deep pockets - Hootie Johnson once stated they could host the tournament indefinitely without sponsors. Obviously a different sport, but the same principal would apply I think.
Sun, Fenway, Hawaii, Military, Gator - bowls that have had a team pull out, though the Gator found a replacement. How many years will the sponsors tolerate this before pulling out?
How many times have college fans asked this question and they always survive. When the BCS came around, folks said it was the death of the bowls. Same thing was said with the CFP.
Let those bowls which cannot survive a true playoff die.
How about this year? Let's say that there was a real playoff this year instead of the ersatz 4-team version. And Charlotte was able to host a post-season game, i.e., bowl where they matched up USC with UnCarolina. How might that impact someone's desire to travel to Charlotte?
I would probably book a room at an Extended Stay facility in Omaha for two weeks.
Big difference when your fans are told a year out. Also, it’s possibly 4 games not just 1. Doing first round at home sites gets better atmosphere, motivation for higher seeding, and easier to sell out games. If you’re playing neutral site either way there’s the chance a top 5 team who can’t qualify for bye could sit guys in final game like the NFL.
Which is just an argument that bowls are wanted and valued, meaning losing a few bowls just isn't going to threaten the bowl system if they draw such big audiences.
USCBatgirl21
Well-Known Member
We book rooms in Council Bluffs at the beginning of every baseball season. And cancel if necessary.
With the advent of remote work at my office, I'm no longer worried about having to take off extended periods of time. I can work when not at the ballpark.
That's Council Bluffs, Iowa for the geographically challenged. 😎 East of Omaha across the Missouri River.
As Wentzel stated in his column, those bowls which survive the 16-team playoff, survive. Operate the bowls independent of the playoffs. All good.
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Bowl games appears to benefit coaches and schools more than players. Coaches get bonuses. What do players get? If players do not feel a sense of commitment to team/school or the benefits of playing in bowl games do not appeal to players, they will not play. Players appear to expect more than they did in the past.
I did for a week in 2012. Had no clue we would go on that run. Checked out and went looking for a room. Microtel in Council Bluffs wanted 219 a night lol. Drove about 15 mins west of Omaha and got one for 60 a night. Most people dont know this but almost every room is booked the first week due to the huge travel ball tournament they have. Every field for 20 miles around Omaha has a game on it.
I’m probably a spoiled fan but I just wait to see if we make the championship. If I have to fork over the dough, I want to see a title. I got a great deal on Priceline for the Element hotel in downtown Omaha. Still one of the most impressive hotels I’ve stayed in. Had a high end grocery store attached, stainless steel appliances and felt more like an Air B and B than a hotel.
That was the year we won the back to back and beat Florida in the title. Only thing that sucked is I had a 2 year old with me and had to beg for a ride back once the celebration was over. I could have used an Uber….but it was a little too early for that.
Well they let you know when the bowls are a year early, but most fans will not know if their team will qualify until early December, giving them a couple of weeks to book a trip. As much as Alabama expects to be there yearly, if they lost to Georgia they were likely out.
I do think that with an expanded playoff would be a reduction of games at some point, which would soften the blow for the “4 vs 1”. Also keep in mind the only team playing four is the one in the championship. Most teams would be out by the first two rounds. So if you made the “Elite 8” you would only be playing one more game than you are currently playing.
I would do the opposite. Incorporate them into the playoff system. Although I prefer an 8 game playoff. Teams 9-16 aren't realistic national champs.
While I wouldn't incorporate any bowls into the playoff system at all, I agree with you that it's highly unlikely that seeds 9-16 would win the title. IMO, it's comparable to a 12-seed upsetting a 5-seed in hoops and then getting eliminated in a subsequent round.
I'll also suggest that coaches and non-senior players may still like participating in bowl games outside the playoff structure. Vacation for the fans, and pre-spring Spring Practice sessions for the teams.
With 41 bowls there would still be bowls outside an 8 team playoff. But the seven games inside the playoff (4-2-1) could be the traditional big bowl games: Rose, Fiesta, Cotton, Sugar, Orange, etc.
I believe that there will be about 35 bowls next year. If it’s a good year they may add back the next. If not, the number keeps descending. I don’t see some of the sponsors of these bowls continuing throwing money in when they get little for it.
