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Rose Bowl Ratings Plunge(Boycott working, playoff on the way? my add)
USA Today ^ | 1/4/02 | Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press, Rudy Martzke, Jon Saraceno

Posted on 01/06/2002 1:13:46 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat

Edited on 04/13/2004 1:38:55 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

NEW YORK

(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Miscellaneous
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OK, so there was no real organized fan boycott, but there was the free market vote made with clickers. Money talks, and ratings are a major factor in the money equation(ad rates). Will this result in a playoff next year? Doubtful. They might even rebound next year. But other controversies and a couple of more "boycotts" in the next few years will be influential. This wasn't just an aberration nor totally explained by increasing viewer fragmentation. The ratings were the worst in seven years for the title game, and the worst ever for the BCS as a whole.

The move for a playoff has to come from within, and ABC may well be the instigator. I predict we'll have some form of a playoff no later than the year after the contract expires. But it is also closer than many people realize, perhaps in just a couple of years. Just as soon as ABC can renegotiate the contract. But how do you bring the Conference Commissioners and BCS bowls to the table? Money.

Here's a solution outlined in detail: A playoff that saves the bowls and quiets the critics, basically taking the four BCS bowl winners for a January playoff, and not touching any of the bowls. Lets take some ballpark figures from the above articles. ABC paid $75 mil. per season for 4 BCS bowl games. Three Jan. playoff games will likely bring in at minimum an additional $50-60 mil. First, don't touch the bowls and the BCS, and declare only the three Jan. games a playoff. Thus the six conferences can keep their $140 mil. in BCS money. Yet they also will get a cut of the additional playoff revenue, while the other conferences will benefit, too. So a broader base of support in Div. I and the NCAA.

Now the bowls are worried a playoff might cut into fan travel to them. So set aside a cut for the four BCS bowls as a form of indemnification. Lets say the average fan pays the bowl $100 for tickets, food, parking. $1 mil. per bowl covers the potential loss of 10,000 fans. So $4-8 million covers the potential loss of 10-20,000 fans per bowl. Plus in renegotiation the bowls could benefit from a inflation-type bump in payout per year over the current $75 million. Sure they give up some of their potential prestige, but its about survival. The contract is up in 2006, and the bowls could be shut out of the decision-making then, basically all power then will rest in the Conference Commissioners. If current trends and ratings continue, ABC will be pushing for a playoff, and even with competitive bidding most playoff scenarios will attract bigger bids than the current BCS sytsem. So here's a way for the BCS bowls to preserve and enrich themselves while controlling their destiny. Viewership of the other 3 bowls will increase because now they will still matter. A Big 12 or Pac 10 fan might not have paid much attention to the Sugar Bowl after the second quarter, but if a Big 12 or Pac 10 team was likely to face LSU in the playoff, there is a greater likelihood that fan would watch more of the game to learn more about their future opponent.

Is this perfect or fair? No, but it finally gets the playoff started, and can always be tweaked later. Sometimes you have to compromise and deal with the devil to get it done. This is just sports, not a principled issue of importance such as abortion or the 2nd amendment. Its a realistic incremental approach. In fact, the first change may be just a simple one-game post-bowl playoff. But at least that opens the door.

1 posted on 01/06/2002 1:13:47 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
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To: Diddle E. Squat
Traditionally the Rose Bowl game was played just hours after the family watched the Rose Bowl parade. Situated on a holiday it had little competition from other programming. The decision to move it to Thursday, a non-holiday was a huge error in judgement. The figures back that up!

Working people don't get to watch Rose Bowl games. Even if that game is situated later in the day, the competition from other programming is much more accute.

Duh!

2 posted on 01/06/2002 1:24:17 PM PST by DoughtyOne
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To: Diddle E. Squat
ABC wasn't helped in 2002 by a series of blowouts, with the four top bowls decided by an average of 22.7 points and all pretty much were won by halftime. Last year, the average margin in those games was 17.5.

Are they surprised!!!

They had #1 against a questionable #2.

After that we should have seen a 3 vs 4; 5 vs 6; 7 vs 8.

Instead we got matchups that were 6 and more points separated in the ratings. What does it prove to play a single digit team against a double digit team? Who really cares?

They sorely need a playoff.

ABC, get a clue. In a playoff EVERY game would be a ratings winner. And the final eight would keep me glued to the set. Everyone keeps saying this. Why so slow to do the right ($$$) thing!?

3 posted on 01/06/2002 1:35:51 PM PST by xzins
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To: xzins
It wasn't ABC's fault that Nebraska was picked over Colorado or Oregon that the BCS. But it was ABCs fault it wasn't shown on 1/1.
4 posted on 01/06/2002 1:39:35 PM PST by marajade
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To: DoughtyOne
You are right on!
5 posted on 01/06/2002 1:40:47 PM PST by truthkeeper
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To: Diddle E. Squat
A. The spreading of the traditional bowl games over most of a week diminished the excitement of the season.

B. The games SUCKED!

6 posted on 01/06/2002 1:52:52 PM PST by ArcLight
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To: xzins
**They had #1 against a questionable #2. **

Wrong. They had #1 against #4. Only a bunch of idiots thought Nebraska was #2. Sportswriters and head coaches knew better.

7 posted on 01/06/2002 2:01:51 PM PST by Tall_Texan
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To: Tall_Texan
Nebraska in the Rose Bowl was a sin against nature.
8 posted on 01/06/2002 2:05:22 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: marajade
**It wasn't ABC's fault that Nebraska was picked over Colorado or Oregon that the BCS. **

I'm not so sure. The way ABC shamelessly hyped Eric Crouch for the Heisman Trophy, I think they wanted Nebraska in the Rose Bowl and I wouldn't be shocked to find out some day that they manipulated the BCS results to get the matchup they wanted.

Crouch deserved the Heisman even less than Nebraska deserved to play in the Rose Bowl. He had more INTs than TDs. But don't forget that Grossman was an SEC player (who appears on CBS).

9 posted on 01/06/2002 2:08:21 PM PST by Tall_Texan
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To: marajade
It wasn't ABC's fault...

Normally, I'd say, "If you don't think this major media conglomerate didn't have their hands in Nebraska being chosen, then you must be Jamaican and smokin' da ganja."

In this case, though, I detest the alphabet socialist media outlets. They're probably stupid enough not to realize that they have leverage as to who gets chosen.

10 posted on 01/06/2002 2:08:36 PM PST by xzins
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To: Diddle E. Squat
I also heard that for the first time in decades the Rose Bowl wasn't a sell out.
11 posted on 01/06/2002 2:08:53 PM PST by Non-Sequitur
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To: Tall_Texan
#1 against #4

Wasn't it AFTERWARDS they were ranked #4?

You miss the point, though. They could have had Smith/Amherst in there against Miami and it wouldn't have mattered to me.

None of this means anything without a playoff.

12 posted on 01/06/2002 2:11:12 PM PST by xzins
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To: xzins
They were #4 in both AP and ESPN polls before the Rose Bowl. They were #2 **only** in the BCS and their various computer polls and that's how a third-place team in their own conference got to play for the National Championship.

AFTER the Rose Bowl, the Cornhuskers fell to 8th in the polls. (btw - I agree that isn't your point. The playoff is what's needed but 16 teams is too many).

13 posted on 01/06/2002 2:16:51 PM PST by Tall_Texan
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To: Diddle E. Squat
America has finally awoke and decided that there is nothing less important than watching kids who can't read or write play football. With the economy in the can, no one has the cash to gamble. No gamble, no ratings.
14 posted on 01/06/2002 2:17:29 PM PST by Mr.E
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To: Diddle E. Squat
I am four-square in favor of a playoff.

That said, this has nothing to do with any "boycott." It was simply a boring, lop-sided game in which one of the contenders--the loser, as it happens--had "backed in" to the berth.

FWIW, I don't watch college football any more. The best college players never make it to their senior year, and the level of play in Division IA has dropped to about Division III level as a result.

15 posted on 01/06/2002 2:19:28 PM PST by Illbay
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To: Tall_Texan
I think its the whole system as to how they pick that's to blame. Whoever programmed the computer to allow a team who lost to their conference leader and who was second in the conference to go made a mistake.
16 posted on 01/06/2002 2:22:07 PM PST by marajade
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To: Tall_Texan
"Crouch deserved the Heisman even less than Nebraska deserved to play in the Rose Bowl."

Got to agree with you there. The quarterback from Oregon was a better QB if you ask me.

17 posted on 01/06/2002 2:22:50 PM PST by marajade
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To: Diddle E. Squat
My only holiday tradition prior to the BCS was to spend New Years Day watching the Rose Bowl Parade followed by a day of flipping channels between the football games and going to bed knowing who the National Champ was.

The BCS has ended that tradition. I didn't watch any TV New Years Day, I didn't watch any of the BCS games except the second half of the Miami-Nebraska game as I was at the office late and forgot about the game.

I suspect there are a lot of people out there with similar stories.

18 posted on 01/06/2002 2:26:41 PM PST by fso301
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To: Diddle E. Squat
Another factor is that outside of the immediate Miami area, the Hurricanes have little fan base since they are a private school.
19 posted on 01/06/2002 2:27:48 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: Tall_Texan
Minor Correction: Nebraska finished 7th in the ESPN poll and 8th in the AP. LSU flip-flopped with them in the two polls.
20 posted on 01/06/2002 2:30:40 PM PST by Tall_Texan
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