Not sure about numbers, but it appears on TV that bowl attendance is down overall....

[Goat Holder]

Outside the Rose and Citrus Bowls, all the stadiums looked half-empty. Not sure if that's normal or what, but it lends credence to my theory that the bowl system is doomed. The TV bubble is finally beginning to leak. People aren't going to pay for bowls anymore outside a select few. And the regional aspect of the medium-level bowls (and even some higher ones, like the Fiesta) is killing attendance. You can really see who puts effort into their bowl games too. Hint: Fiesta and Gator are TERRIBLE.

The only solution is to go all-in on the playoff. It's either/or. Can't have both. When they formed the BCS, it was just a matter of time before the bowl system's collapse. The only thing holding it up is how to divide the money.

A 16 team playoff yields you 15 games, and all should be played at the campuses except maybe the Final Four, or round of 8 if you want to get crazy. That's 7 games, play them in LA, Miami, New Orleans, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas and one more. Those cities actually get attendance. Done. End this crap already. Make the playoff, and if the bowls who want to host games not in the playoff want to have a bowl, let them.

[Political Hack]

agree. it'll come to that soon. no other way to keep it relevant. not enough people are going to take their families and travel to some crap town they've been to 20 times for New Years to see their team play in a bowl game that they've been to 10 times. it's either move them back to campus or creat a playoff with regional matchups, much like the baseball playoffs.

[BogeyGolfer]

Agree 100%... Most bowl games are terribly boring to watch as well... PH make a great point about traveling to the same city over and over again as well. This hurt us in last year's Gator Bowl. It also goes back to my argument about playing a quality opponent. If we were matched up with a quality big conference opponent each year I think it will help attendance... This is what the SEC is trying to do next year... I would argue that we would have sold out the LB if we were playing Kansas St.. Or similar opponent...

[maroonmania]

Bowls at this point are mostly for TV or they should be. Hard to fill up stadiums (especially outdoor ones in late December) with loyal fans or locals paying high prices during the holidays when you can sit in your heated home and watch in high definition. TV also is starting to somewhat affect regular season attendance as well as ticket prices and everything else continues to inflate while TV viewing continues to improve with no added cost involved. Just a different world when you can see EVERY SEC team play EVERY week from the comfort of your recliner when used to a team like MSU was lucky to get on TV 3 or 4 times a year.

[sleepy dawg]

So we'll be looking for that NIT bid then...

[dawgs]

comfort of watching from home + cost of travelling to a city/bowl you've been too before (or isn't all that attractive anyway in some cases) = dwindling attendance for years.

i think espn will continue to prop up bowls for years to come because it's good programming for them. but i think there will be some bowls discontinued over the next 5-10 years just due to lack of eligible teams and general public apathy.

as for a playoff killing bowl attendance, i don't think it will have much affect tbh. i don't see a fan's thought process in determining to attend a bowl varying all that much. in 2013, msu wasn't playing for a national title, and in 2014 with a playoff system, we still wouldn't be playing for a national title. i just don't see a bunch of fans changing their decision to attend the liberty bowl because there's 4 (or even 8 or 16) teams competing for a championship instead of just 2.

i also don't think it'll hurt ratings that much. when you tuned into that fight hunger bowl last week, it wasn't because it had national relevance, it was because you were either a fan of the 2 teams involved or you just flipped on a football game to stare at for 3 hours. BCS bowls already don't have TV competition from other bowls and neither will playoff games.

[curmudgeon]

The sponsors are keeping the bowls in business. Plus, the times are a changing' 3 of the 4 NFL playoff games aren't sellouts this weekend. Its getting too expensive to take a family of four and different decisions are being made.

More reason we need a 16-team playoff. First two rounds at campus sites, then rotate semifinals and finals locales.

Top 16 in a BCS standings-like formula make the playoffs, unless a conference champion is ranked 17-25. In this, LSU would be the first team out - they should have beaten Ole Miss.

All times CT

16. Fresno State at 1. Florida State (Saturday, 11 a.m., ESPN2)
9. South Carolina at 8. Missouri (Saturday 6:30 p.m., ESPN)

In this pod, Florida State would cruise past Fresno as a reward for being the #1 seed. The USC-Missouri rematch would be one for the ages - and Missouri would probably get them in the rematch to earn a trip to Tallahassee for a quarterfinal.

12. Clemson at 5. Stanford (Saturday 10 p.m., ESPN)
13. Oklahoma State at 4. Michigan State (Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ABC)

An intriguing late night matchup between Clemson and Stanford has a chance for a late night upset. The afternoon feature game is a great one that Michigan State pulls out to host the Stanford/Clemson winner. Michigan State beats Stanford at home, but Clemson is a upset pick to come out of this pod.

11. Oklahoma at 6. Baylor (Friday, 7 p.m., ESPN)
14.Arizona State at 3. Alabama (Saturday, 5 p.m. ESPN2)

The Friday night game gives us a Big 12 rematch in Waco, which Baylor wins again. The ESPN2 Saturday matchup is not as intriguing as it sounds, as Alabama rolls to setup a Bama-Baylor quarterfinal.

10. Oregon at 7. Ohio State (Saturday, 7 p.m., ABC)
15. Central Florida at 2. Auburn (Thursday, 6:45 p.m., ESPN)

Oregon-Ohio State is forced down the nations throat as the feature game on ABC Primetime, which Oregon wins going away. Auburn and Central Florida kick off the playoff on Thursday night with an entertaining game that Auburn wins. The Ducks go to Auburn and Vegas sets a 100 point O/U.

Quarterfinal Week

8. Missouri at 1. Florida State (Saturday, 7 p.m. ABC)
12. Clemson at 4. Michigan State (Saturday, 11 a.m., ESPN)

The primetime feature game is FSU-Missouri, which Missouri plays extremely well and almost pulls the upset. Clemson takes the glass slipper by going in and winning the early game in East Lansing.

6. Baylor at 3. Alabama (Saturday, 5 p.m., ESPN)
10. Oregon at 2. Auburn (Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ABC)

Alabama shuts down Baylor and just Alabamas them into submission. Auburn-Oregon gives us the afternoon shootout we all desired, with Auburn winning on a rare 1 point safety.

Semifinal Saturday

Glendale, Arizona - Auburn vs. Alabama (2:30 p.m., ABC)
Atlanta, Georgia - Clemson vs. Florida State (7 p.m., ABC)

The entire state of Alabama does it again, this time in the desert with Alabama pulling off the win. Clemson plays FSU a little closer in Atlanta, but the Noles pull away late.

National Championship

Pasadena, California - Florida State vs. Alabama


Who wouldn't watch most every one of these games? How many bazillion dollars would ESPN/ABC make?

[BogeyGolfer]

comfort of watching from home + cost of travelling to a city/bowl you've been too before (or isn't all that attractive anyway in some cases) = dwindling attendance for years.

i think espn will continue to prop up bowls for years to come because it's good programming for them. but i think there will be some bowls discontinued over the next 5-10 years just due to lack of eligible teams and general public apathy.

as for a playoff killing bowl attendance, i don't think it will have much affect tbh. i don't see a fan's thought process in determining to attend a bowl varying all that much. in 2013, msu wasn't playing for a national title, and in 2014 with a playoff system, we still wouldn't be playing for a national title. i just don't see a bunch of fans changing their decision to attend the liberty bowl because there's 4 (or even 8 or 16) teams competing for a championship instead of just 2.

i also don't think it'll hurt ratings that much. when you tuned into that fight hunger bowl last week, it wasn't because it had national relevance, it was because you were either a fan of the 2 teams involved or you just flipped on a football game to stare at for 3 hours. BCS bowls already don't have TV competition from other bowls and neither will playoff games.

Maybe I misspoke earlier, I do not think bowls will die out but I do think the conferences will step in, much like they are doing next year, to try to establish good match ups that will help the bowls out with attendance etc.. For example, making sure a team doesn't play in the same city every two years or so,,,there will always be the demand for a fan-base to watch their 6-6 team
Play one more game etc...

[dawgs]

on paper i love the idea of a 16 team playoff and how you laid it out, but another part of me wants it limited to 8 to keep it a little more exclusive and a big deal just to make it in. that said, i think hosting games is a must and rightfully rewards the highest seeds for better seasons. in an 8 team or 16 team situation everything prior to the semis would have to be on campus. tbh, i want the semis on campus too.

[dawgs]

Maybe I misspoke earlier, I do not think bowls will die out but I do think the conferences will step in, much like they are doing next year, to try to establish good match ups that will help the bowls out with attendance etc.. For example, making sure a team doesn't play in the same city every two years or so,,,there will always be the demand for a fan-base to watch their 6-6 team
Play one more game etc...

it depends on the 6-6 team. there wasn't much demand for our 8-4 2012 team because of the finish to the season. we wouldn't have traveled that well to memphis or b'ham last year. however because of the finish to our season this year, our 6-6 team probably would have traveled well even if it had been in jax again. also, traditional powers that fall short of a major bowl have fanbases that tend to not get excited about non-championship bowls (ohio st and clemson this year, florida last year, are BCS examples of this mindset and are vastly undersold), whereas a team that's missed a few bowls and finally goes to any bowl, the fanbase tends to get fired up. it's just a mentality that's hard to nail down, even year to year.

[curmudgeon]

Another way to make the bowls at least interesting is to do away with the tie-ins. Make four tiers of teams and four tiers of bowls. Obviously you would have the BCS level bowls/teams which would take 12 teams, but then you would have:

Tier II Bowls - Ranked teams + all 8 win bowl eligible teams (14 teams at this tier)
Alamo, Holiday, Sun, Capital One, Outback, Cotton, Peach

Tier III Bowls - Remaining Major conference bowl eligible teams + Minor conference champions and 9+ win teams (28 teams at this tier)
Games: Las Vegas, New Orleans, Hawaii, Texas, Fight Hunger, Pinstripe, Belk, Russell Athletic, Buffalo Wild Wings, Music City, Liberty, Independence, Gator

Tier IV Bowls - Remaining Minor Conference teams (20 teams at this tier)
Games: New Mexico, Idaho Potato, St. Petersburg, Little Caesar's, Poinsettia, Military, Armed Forces, Heart of Dallas, Compass, GoDaddy


I sometimes feel like the current bowl system makes the Gator/Chick-fil-A our ceiling. If it is, let's add a few more possible locales than Tennessee, Jacksonville and if we have a great season, Atlanta.

[dawgs]

I sometimes feel like the current bowl system makes the Gator/Chick-fil-A our ceiling. If it is, let's add a few more possible locales than Tennessee, Jacksonville and if we have a great season, Atlanta.

i'd say the ceiling is cotton, but i feel like cap 1 and outback would never take us.

[bgover4]

So if I am a big Alabama fan, I am going to have to travel to Glendale and then Pasadena likely 2 weekends in a row, plus manage to make arrangements after the first game plus afford all that.......That would never affect attendance which was what stated this whole thread.

[Goat Holder]

My plan calls for the games to be on college campuses until the Final Four, maybe even the Championship. Sure, we're adding more games, but IMO we should shrink the regular season to 11 games and outlaw FCS team scheduling. Keep the money local, more people go. It's that simple. Or cheapen the tickets. It's one or the other. F*ck the bowl owners.

[Bothrops]

Another way to make the bowls at least interesting is to do away with the tie-ins. Make four tiers of teams and four tiers of bowls. Obviously you would have the BCS level bowls/teams which would take 12 teams, but then you would have:

Tier II Bowls - Ranked teams + all 8 win bowl eligible teams (14 teams at this tier)
Alamo, Holiday, Sun, Capital One, Outback, Cotton, Peach

Tier III Bowls - Remaining Major conference bowl eligible teams + Minor conference champions and 9+ win teams (28 teams at this tier)
Games: Las Vegas, New Orleans, Hawaii, Texas, Fight Hunger, Pinstripe, Belk, Russell Athletic, Buffalo Wild Wings, Music City, Liberty, Independence, Gator

Tier IV Bowls - Remaining Minor Conference teams (20 teams at this tier)
Games: New Mexico, Idaho Potato, St. Petersburg, Little Caesar's, Poinsettia, Military, Armed Forces, Heart of Dallas, Compass, GoDaddy


I sometimes feel like the current bowl system makes the Gator/Chick-fil-A our ceiling. If it is, let's add a few more possible locales than Tennessee, Jacksonville and if we have a great season, Atlanta.

This^ is pretty good. A sensible alternative

[curmudgeon]

Cotton is out of the SEC rotation next year. For that matter, so is the Chick fil A.

The Liberty and Music City Bowls essentially move up, and the Texas and Belk bowls go where the Liberty and Music City are now. Liberty also drops C-USA and picks up a Big 12 team.

So, its quite possible that we could go 8-4/9-3 and go to the Liberty or Music City Bowl next year.