How are those 35 bowl games working for you? Personally, I just sat through my first complete games yesterday. I just could not get excited about seeing some of the match-ups this year. The best early game yesterday featured Florida vs. Penn State …if not for the sheer entertainment value of seeing two “name” teams, both having poor seasons, match up in a nice bowl. Also Urban Meyer vs. Joe Paterno …what can you say. Texas Tech vs. Northwestern was entertaining and high-scoring, but not a thing of beauty. And the State of Michigan vs. the SEC … well, I can’t think there were too many eyeballs on those games.
Some bowl games have drawn nice crowds…others, well, let’s just say the camera angles have really tried to avoid showing the upper decks of some of the stadiums. There are real problems getting fans and alums to travel to some of the games…the economy does not help the situation…and neither does the fact that the schools themselves are being hurt by the resale market. I’m talking StubHub and other re-sellers, who have offered bowl tickets for as little as $12.00 for the Orange Bowl and others.
First-time BCS entrant, Connecticut had as much trouble selling their tickets as their football team had against Oklahoma . The Huskies have sold just 4,000 out of its 17,500 ticket allotment for the Fiesta Bowl . Add in the unsold blocks of hotel rooms they are responsible for and UConn is looking at $3 million in bowl debt alone. Couldn’t they have just not accepted the bid and spent $3 million somewhere else? Maybe like hire more professors?
Their opponent, Oklahoma, had sold just 8,000 of their 17, 000 allotment. I think this says as much about their “lack” of an opponent than their willingness to travel. I guarantee if OU had been matched up against Boise State or Stanford , they would have sold out in hours…and would have been asking for more tickets. The Sooner faithful travel VERY well. From what I saw last night, while there were some empty seats in the University of Phoenix Stadium , the crowd looked good.
And, they are not alone. It is doubtful that Maryland would have sold their allotment of Military Bowl tickets had their head coach, Ralph Friedgen , been fired, but was allowed to coach in this one final game. Despite the fact that the game was being played just down the road from their fan base ( RFK Stadium in Washington, DC ), if Friedgen had NOT been dismissed from his job, I think this was a VERY UNATTRACTIVE bowl for the Terps. Their opponent, East Carolina , was happy to be selected…and they played like it in the Terps 51-30 victory on Wednesday. Their fan base travelled up to D.C. and, despite predictions to the contrary, did NOT out-number the home team’s fans. Attendance was announced at around 38,000…in a 50,000 seat stadium. Do the math.
Now, even for an ATTRACTIVE match-up, there are problems galore. The Orange Bowl pits a very good No. 5 Stanford Cardinal team against the No. 12 Virginia Tech Hokies . Miami is a great destination for a bowl game…and this is going to be a good game. The last time VA Tech went to the Orange Bowl, they had problems selling tickets…they sold just over 3,300 of their 17,500 allotment. The reason: less expensive seats were available on StubHub . The school was left with a payment of $1.77 million in unsold tickets (“thanks, we accept cash or checks”, said the Orange Bowl Committee ). So, this year, coach Frank Beamer begged Hokie fans to buy directly from the university’s athletic department.
How has that worked? Uh, not so well. VA Tech expects to take another loss this year. As of last week, they had sold around 6,500 of their ticket allotment. Tim East , Tech’s associate athletic director for external affairs, said they expect sales to continue as game day approaches, but, “we’re not gonna sell out our allotment, that’s for sure.”
Their opponents, coming from the other side of the country, have sold more than 10,000 of its tickets, according to a school official. But, here’s the kicker…the Pac 10 conference will cover the cost of any unsold tickets, per league policy. The ACC has no such policy.
And, yes, schools certainly can make money. Travel costs are covered…if you go by bowl estimates…but if you bring more people than the bowls allot, you pay the difference. And, yes, bowls pay out a lot of money…which gets split up among ALL the conference teams.
No. 2 Oregon will earn $21.2 million for playing in the BCS championship game against No. 1 Auburn in Glendale, AZ on January 10. The get this by virtue of being the first team to qualify from the Pac 10 Conference.
Stanford , No. 4 in the BCS standings, will get $6 million for its at-large berth to play Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on January 3, by virtue of being the second Pac 10 team to land in a BCS bowl.
Yes, it is somewhat cloudy…murky…but it is BIG BUCKS. And, no matter how much money a proposed 16-team playoff could bring in, the bowl games are staying around for a long time.
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