The Bowl Boondoggle

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[MeanGreen2008]

The Sugar Bowl’s total revenue was $12.9 million in 2006 according to tax documents. Its chief expense is paying $6 million into a payout pool for BCS teams. The rest of the money for teams comes from a cut of television and sponsorship revenue.

The Sugar Bowl can do whatever it wants with the other $6.9 million (or however much it can drum up).

Like the other BCS bowls it’s a not-for-profit, so while no individual is walking away with millions, the enterprise appears to be little more than a massive boondoggle. For the politically connected, a BCS game is the Mississippi River of gravy trains.

Scanning recent tax documents, the Sugar Bowl spent:

• $1.3 million in employee salaries in 2006, including $453,399 in total compensation for Hoolahan

• $494,177 in unspecified “entertainment” (in 2005)

• $455,781 on unspecified “special appropriations” (in 2006)

• $348,487 in “Sugar Bowl entertainment” (in 2006)

• $188,305 on “Hall of Fame” (in 2005)

• $176,277 on “media relations” (in 2006)

• $118,004 on “decorations” (in 2006)

• $114,666 on “committee meetings” (in 2006)

• $84,255 on “conference relations” (in 2006)

• $82,884 on “other expenses” (in 2006)

• $60,932 on “gifts and bonuses” (in 2005)

• $58,995 on “liaison” (in 2006)

• $46,017 on “conference meetings” (in 2006)

Overall the Sugar Bowl spent $11.1 million in 2006 alone. The SEC operated its 2007 Championship Game (in effect a bowl game) for just $2.1 million. The ACC managed to pull off its 2006 title game for $1.2 million.

[Red_Devil 232]

Look this is New Orleans - nuff said!

[demshateGod]

Go Utes!

[HondaCRF450]

Too bad Chicago is so cold, they can’t cash in on this “Pay for play” scheme. Business is business. Shakedowns = revenue.

[STONEWALLS]

...many of the bowl games are poor quality...this year there are 34 bowl games and roughly 75 D-1 teams with winning records....thus, we get a couple of teams that barely have winning records playing each other in the minor bowls...big let down for those of us old enough to remember when New Years eve and New Years day had big time ball games.

[RC2]

Bowl games are strictly about the money and a little entertainment. Look at the Super Bowl. Pulls a lot of people together, in stadiums and homes. Party time. One guy put a stop watch on the movement of the football. It was only in action for four minutes during a four hour game. I coached football and games up through college, use the clock as much as possible. Pro Ball cares less about the clock....it’s a business and more about the money.

[philsfan24]

so youre telling me the papajohns.com bowl lessens the mystique of bowl games? preposterous!!!

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

And that's why there will be no playoff. I dislike the BCS as much as the next man but as you correctly stated, it's all about the money. Under the current system, the lower bowls still have some latitude in which teams they get to maximize viewers and ad revenues.

Under a playoff system, imagine through several twists of fate, Loser State plays Doormat U for the national championship. The nicest thing sport writers said about both teams all season was to describe them as lackluster. Also lucky as the majors all had some problems and didn't go undefeated as the two boring teams did. What sponsor should be forced to take those teams that find it hard to get the players relatives to watch?

[scrabblehack]

Several times though, President-elect Obama has stated his desire for a national playoff in college football. I may agree with him on no other policy position than that, but he just might get it done.

Would there be enough money for the lower-tier bowls? Probably not — that would be one obstacle to overcome.

[MeanGreen2008]

Yeah, this is America... nobody likes the underdogs. That’s probably why March Madness is such a failure year after year.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

You're comparing apples to oranges. Televising basketball requires way less production efforts, staff, equipment, and money than football does. Most basketball games are only covered by a couple of cameras.

Basketball facilities can take tons more use than football fields allowing several games in the same day. Football fields, even artificial turf are stretching it by running two games on back to back days.

These are just a couple of reasons. The next person who drags March Madness into the college football playoff discussion will be cordially invited to go have sex with themselves.

[SuziQ]

My sister-in-law was at a casino during the Super Bowl, several years ago. She encountered hundreds of people who had tickets for the game, but decided to come on over to the MS Gulf Coast and gamble while watching the game on TV. The Super Bowl folks were not amused.

[SuziQ]

OOPS! I meant to say the SUGAR Bowl!

[MeanGreen2008]

I was only making the comparison in terms of the “possibility” of two non-BCS conference teams making it to the finals.

Is it likely? No. Does it make the early rounds more exciting to see No Name U knock of a No. 2 or No. 3 seed? Damn straight... that’s why March Madness opening round Thursday/Friday is one of the highest absentee and lowest production days in American business.

As for the cost, please read the article in this post about the tremendous waste of money promoting bowl games with golf committees, parties, etc when conference championships are put on for 1/10 the cost.

The point is that the bowl system does very little for the schools participating and hands over a buttload of money to bowl committee chairmen and their toadies.