"A playoff system would be an unmitigated disaster. The damage it would do would be far greater than any benefit it could ever produce."
- Neill Woelk, Daily Camera (Nov. 19, 2003)
Bowl Games Provide Revenue...
This year 32 bowl games distributed more than $210 million to NCAA schools. More than $900 million has been paid out in just the past six years and the bowls will conservatively payout more than $2.2 billion over the next ten years.
Almost all Bowl games are non-profit organizations. The more revenue the bowl brings in through ticket sales, sponsors, etc. the more money can be paid to NCAA schools.
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
There have been articles on how teams don't profit from playing in a bowl and in fact some even lose money. This is rarely true. While some schools may elect to spend all of the allotted portion of their payout on bowl travel expenses most teams participating in bowls make money after all revenue sharing is distributed. In fact, conferences share most bowl revenue with all schools in their league, thus spreading the wealth with schools that don't even qualify for a bowl.
"It's a worthwhile experience for the entire university community, especially in terms of prestige and recruiting."
- LaVell Edwards, (Oct. 29, 2003)
Bowl games generate increased donations, valuable visibility and even increases in school enrollment applications. In addition, it can also increase long term revenues in licensing, endorsement money, TV contracts and season ticket sales.
While it is true that some teams in conferences that don't send multiple teams to bowls don't receive as much revenue, that is a key reason additional bowls have been added recently -- to provide more opportunities for those conference members and increase their revenue. Indeed some bowls have been setup with the help of conferences to provide all the other benefits of a bowl.
Bowl Games Are Tradition...
Tositos Fiesta Bowl
Bowl games have been a part of college football for 90 years. They have provided some of the greatest moments in college football history and add to the pageantry, color and excitement of the game. Bowl games are as much a part of the tradition of college football as any other aspect of the game.
"I think college football has the most exciting regular season of any sport because there is not a playoff system. The whole season is a playoff system. I don't want a playoff system."
- Georgia Coach Mark Richt
While there has been an increase in the number of bowl games, half of the bowls have been around for at least 15 years and 12 of these have been in existence for 25 or more years.
Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi
The addition of bowl games has provided opportunities for more schools to participate in the bowl experience. That means more student athletes, coaches, cheerleaders, band members, halftime performers, administrators, alumni, college football fans and communities can be a part of this unforgettable experience. College football bowl games offer these people memories that can last a lifetime. This season about 6,200 student-athletes, 12,500 band members, 1,200 cheerleaders, 50,000 - 100,000 performers and millions of fans and community members were a part of this experience.
Bowl games bring a measure of importance to the regular season not seen in other sports.
Insight Bowl
No other intercollegiate sport plays as few regular season games as football and every game means something, conference championships mean something. (This is different from basketball where you can lose a dozen games as long as you win in your conference tournament).
"Big-time college football depends on a meaningful regular season. It can't become college basketball, which, for the largest segment of the sports public, begins the first week of March."
- Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas Morning News (November 27, 2001)
86 (out of 117) different Division IA schools have participated in at least one bowl game in the past six seasons. A total of 62 schools will be a part of the bowl experience this season and 31 teams will finish their season as a bowl champion.
Bowl Games Are Popular...
Total attendance will for the upcoming bowl season is expected to be 1.6 million fans. The average capacity-filled of the bowl stadiums last season was 85.7%. thirteen bowls were at least 92% filled. Ten bowls were soldout.
Outback Bowl
Of the 20 current bowls that have been played at least seven years attendance has increased and stadium capacity was at 102% in 2005-06.
The combined TV audience for the 28 bowls was a record average of 125 million households.
Bowls Benefit Communities...
Bowl games generate an estimated $1.3 billion dollars worth of economic impact for their host communities each year. This does not include the value of exposure.
Meineke Car Care Bowl
Outback Bowl
Bowls benefit not only NCAA institutions but local causes and charities. Many bowls contribute in excess of $100,000 annually to charitable causes and host camps for disadvantaged youth. A small sample of charities benefiting include the Boys & Girls Clubs, numerous hospitals, YMCA, local education programs through elementary and high schools, college scholarship programs, the United Way, Make a Wish Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Bowls Provide New & Unique Experiences...
Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl
Players take part in many diverse experiences and see many sights during their bowl trips. In Tampa they visit Busch Gardens and the beaches. Players at the Holiday Bowl have lunch and tour an aircraft carrier. Players visit the Alamo in San Antonio, tour historic Alcatraz in San Francisco, Disney theme parks in Orlando, go snowmobiling in Boise, experience a luau and visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and much more. These things never would happen in a playoff setting.
