Just a blurb out of Mandel's article talking about issues with the BCS bowls. He interviews Big East associate commissioner Nick Carparelli who says the reason UConn lost so much money on their bowl was the BE bowl distribution.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/wr....meetings/


The BCS pays the automatic-qualifying conferences roughly $22 million, but leagues split the money among all of their member schools, and each handles bowl expenses differently. Connecticut's Fiesta Bowl opponent, Oklahoma, was stuck with 11,933 unsold tickets, but the Big 12 covered most of those losses, allowing the school to break even.

"The [NCAA] committee really does not see that as an issue at all," said Carparelli. "The reason that Connecticut lost money was because of the Big East's revenue-sharing plan, which the ADs decide on. ... The solution there is an internal issue within our conference." He said the league plans to address that issue at its spring meetings.

I'm telling you the conference is getting it's house in order. People rip the Big East because it is the fashionable thing to do but we're starting to act like a legitimate power.

Bowls forcing schools to buy OVERPRICED tickets in BAD seating locations are a HUGE problem in the Bowl system and its obvious that even fans from schools like Oklahoma are choosing other outlets to buy their tickets. I have bought tickets thru USF to EVERY bowl they been to, but it does P*** me off when i see others get BETTER seats at a lower price.

Marinatto is definitly exceeding expectations.

There are 11 BCS conferences? Stew, I like you, but you're off your game.

(04-26-2011 07:40 PM)BJUnklFkr Wrote:  There are 11 BCS conferences? Stew, I like you, but you're off your game.

Technically yes there are. Just some are automatically qualifying.

http://www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4809755

(04-26-2011 07:40 PM)BJUnklFkr Wrote:  There are 11 BCS conferences? Stew, I like you, but you're off your game.

Well, there are 11 BCS conferences. 6 with AQs, 5 without.

edit - Oops, too slow.

It has been well reported that UConn sold VERY few tickets to the Fiesta Bowl. What I would like to know from UConn fans is did most of your go to the game but buy from other sources to get better or cheaper tickets? Or did you really travel THAT bad? When TCU went the year before there was a real dilemma for some of us TCU fans because the ticket prices and seat choices offered through TCU was not that great. TCU turned out in good numbers but if you had low priority points you were better off personally getting tickets directly from the Fiesta Bowl or brokers.

I can somewhat understand OU having trouble selling tickets because the Sooner fans have to fork over for BCS tickets on average every other year. At some point the novelty wears off for all those the “Land-Thief” t-shirt fans and they just stay home. But I was surprised by the UConn numbers.

The Rose Bowl was unique in that there were not many options for tickets better than going through TCU. Plus there was an understanding of the historic nature of us getting to play in the bowl and how important selling the TCU allotment was. I bought extra Rose Bowl tickets and sold them at face value to other TCU fans who had no priority points just to help out. When we buy tickets, even crappy overpriced tickets through the school for these bowls, I see it as one tangible way they we can help with the current and future success of the teams we cheer for. Because bowls make choices based on how a team's fans travel and spend money once they are there.

This probably came off as a lecture. In reality I just have a hard time believing that there weren’t at least 12,000 to 15,000 UConn fans who attended the Fiesta Bowl. I suspect there actually were. But I can understand why most didn’t want to buy through the school because the previous year the seats offered through the school were not that great unless you had a lot of priority points.

(04-26-2011 04:34 PM)The Brown Bull Wrote:  Just a blurb out of Mandel's article talking about issues with the BCS bowls. He interviews Big East associate commissioner Nick Carparelli who says the reason UConn lost so much money on their bowl was the BE bowl distribution.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/wr....meetings/


The BCS pays the automatic-qualifying conferences roughly $22 million, but leagues split the money among all of their member schools, and each handles bowl expenses differently. Connecticut's Fiesta Bowl opponent, Oklahoma, was stuck with 11,933 unsold tickets, but the Big 12 covered most of those losses, allowing the school to break even.

"The [NCAA] committee really does not see that as an issue at all," said Carparelli. "The reason that Connecticut lost money was because of the Big East's revenue-sharing plan, which the ADs decide on. ... The solution there is an internal issue within our conference." He said the league plans to address that issue at its spring meetings.

(04-26-2011 08:57 PM)Frog Brother Wrote:  It has been well reported that UConn sold VERY few tickets to the Fiesta Bowl. What I would like to know from UConn fans is did most of your go to the game but buy from other sources to get better or cheaper tickets? Or did you really travel THAT bad? When TCU went the year before there was a real dilemma for some of us TCU fans because the ticket prices and seat choices offered through TCU was not that great. TCU turned out in good numbers but if you had low priority points you were better off personally getting tickets directly from the Fiesta Bowl or brokers.

I can somewhat understand OU having trouble selling tickets because the Sooner fans have to fork over for BCS tickets on average every other year. At some point the novelty wears off for all those the “Land-Thief” t-shirt fans and they just stay home. But I was surprised by the UConn numbers.

The Rose Bowl was unique in that there were not many options for tickets better than going through TCU. Plus there was an understanding of the historic nature of us getting to play in the bowl and how important selling the TCU allotment was. I bought extra Rose Bowl tickets and sold them at face value to other TCU fans who had no priority points just to help out. When we buy tickets, even crappy overpriced tickets through the school for these bowls, I see it as one tangible way they we can help with the current and future success of the teams we cheer for. Because bowls make choices based on how a team's fans travel and spend money once they are there.

This probably came off as a lecture. In reality I just have a hard time believing that there weren’t at least 12,000 to 15,000 UConn fans who attended the Fiesta Bowl. I suspect there actually were. But I can understand why most didn’t want to buy through the school because the previous year the seats offered through the school were not that great unless you had a lot of priority points.

I can't speak directly for UConn, but it sounded like they had more than 2000+ fans at the game, closer to 10K I believe.

The deal with the Fiesta was that Auburn & Oregon fans who bought national championship game tickets also had to buy Fiesta Bowl tickets. Well those fans didn't care one bit about the Fiesta, so those tickets ended up on the secondary market as a better deal for UConn & OU fans.

Last two times the Fiesta has ended up with a Big East team, the team sold less than their allotment. The previous time was more of a disappointment issue as West Virginia fell to the Fiesta after losing to Pitt in the final game of the regular season. I suspect Pitt didn't sell their allotment in '04 either.

(04-26-2011 08:57 PM)Frog Brother Wrote:  It has been well reported that UConn sold VERY few tickets to the Fiesta Bowl. What I would like to know from UConn fans is did most of your go to the game but buy from other sources to get better or cheaper tickets? Or did you really travel THAT bad? When TCU went the year before there was a real dilemma for some of us TCU fans because the ticket prices and seat choices offered through TCU was not that great. TCU turned out in good numbers but if you had low priority points you were better off personally getting tickets directly from the Fiesta Bowl or brokers.

I can somewhat understand OU having trouble selling tickets because the Sooner fans have to fork over for BCS tickets on average every other year. At some point the novelty wears off for all those the “Land-Thief” t-shirt fans and they just stay home. But I was surprised by the UConn numbers.

The Rose Bowl was unique in that there were not many options for tickets better than going through TCU. Plus there was an understanding of the historic nature of us getting to play in the bowl and how important selling the TCU allotment was. I bought extra Rose Bowl tickets and sold them at face value to other TCU fans who had no priority points just to help out. When we buy tickets, even crappy overpriced tickets through the school for these bowls, I see it as one tangible way they we can help with the current and future success of the teams we cheer for. Because bowls make choices based on how a team's fans travel and spend money once they are there.

This probably came off as a lecture. In reality I just have a hard time believing that there weren’t at least 12,000 to 15,000 UConn fans who attended the Fiesta Bowl. I suspect there actually were. But I can understand why most didn’t want to buy through the school because the previous year the seats offered through the school were not that great unless you had a lot of priority points.

(04-26-2011 04:34 PM)The Brown Bull Wrote:  Just a blurb out of Mandel's article talking about issues with the BCS bowls. He interviews Big East associate commissioner Nick Carparelli who says the reason UConn lost so much money on their bowl was the BE bowl distribution.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/wr....meetings/


The BCS pays the automatic-qualifying conferences roughly $22 million, but leagues split the money among all of their member schools, and each handles bowl expenses differently. Connecticut's Fiesta Bowl opponent, Oklahoma, was stuck with 11,933 unsold tickets, but the Big 12 covered most of those losses, allowing the school to break even.

"The [NCAA] committee really does not see that as an issue at all," said Carparelli. "The reason that Connecticut lost money was because of the Big East's revenue-sharing plan, which the ADs decide on. ... The solution there is an internal issue within our conference." He said the league plans to address that issue at its spring meetings.

From UCONN fans there, about 12K+ UCONN fans went to the Fiesta Bowl. Keep in mind its 2000+ miles to get there. They were clearly visible on TV and took over several sections. Yes most of them brought tickets on the open market at 90% discount. Same tickets UCONN were selling for $200 were going for $20 on Stubhub. Problem with Fiesta Bowl was the national championship was played at the same joint. Auburn and Oregon fans were forced to buy Fiesta Bowl tickets in order to get the championship one. Many of them were dumping tickets on UCONN boards, Stubhub etc. It is a horrible setup for UCONN or any school in that situation. Many Sooner fans also brought on the open market and bypass the school route.

The way BCS bowls are set up schools will fail. There is no way you can expect a school to sell 17.5K tickets under that situation.

(04-27-2011 01:24 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  The way BCS bowls are set up schools will fail. There is no way you can expect a school to sell 17.5K tickets under that situation.

There are many schools that don't struggle to sell out their allotments to BCS bowl games.

I'm against the conference providing greater subsidies for bowl travel because it creates a moral hazard effect (e.g., the invited school feels no pressure to market the game to its fans, since it knows any losses will be covered by the other schools).

Good points.

Maybe the conference champ(bcs rep) could get a larger cut of the bowl pie for winning the conference?

Could go toward bcs expense if needed.

(04-27-2011 01:24 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  From UCONN fans there, about 12K+ UCONN fans went to the Fiesta Bowl. Keep in mind its 2000+ miles to get there. They were clearly visible on TV and took over several sections. Yes most of them brought tickets on the open market at 90% discount. Same tickets UCONN were selling for $200 were going for $20 on Stubhub. Problem with Fiesta Bowl was the national championship was played at the same joint. Auburn and Oregon fans were forced to buy Fiesta Bowl tickets in order to get the championship one. Many of them were dumping tickets on UCONN boards, Stubhub etc. It is a horrible setup for UCONN or any school in that situation. Many Sooner fans also brought on the open market and bypass the school route.

The way BCS bowls are set up schools will fail. There is no way you can expect a school to sell 17.5K tickets under that situation.

I completely agree that people generally act in an economically rational manner, and in the case of this year's Fiesta Bowl, it made much more rational economic sense to buy tickets through the secondary market. If I were a UConn or OU fan wanting to go that game, I would've done the exact same thing.

The issue, though, is that bowls don't judge schools and conferences by that secondary market. They don't need help selling tickets to the general public - the whole point is that they want to rely upon schools to directly fill up the bulk of the seats so they can avoid having to sell to the general public as much as possible . As a result, traveling reputations are completely based upon how many tickets the school can sell directly to is fans - plain and simple. They get no credit at all for tickets purchased on the secondary market. A school like Oklahoma gets the benefit of the doubt because they have a long track record of traveling to bowls, so if they don't travel well in one particular year (like this year's Fiesta Bowl), it's looked at as an aberration. A school like UConn doesn't have that long track record, though, so they're going to get scrutinized more heavily and, unfortunately, they're likely going to get stigmatized as a "poor traveling school" in the future whether it's fair or not.

To be fair, the way the BCS bowls are set up aren't necessarily in a manner where *all* schools will fail. Case in point is this year's Rose Bowl, where TCU sold its 20,000 ticket allotment and Wisconsin sold its 37,000 ticket allotment and both schools wanted even more. As someone that has traveled to the Rose Bowl and had planned a contingency Fiesta Bowl trip in conjunction with that, distance is largely irrelevant in terms of price - it's exponentially more expensive to stay in LA during the holidays than the other BCS bowl sites, so the distance argument has never been very persuasive to me as Wisky had to travel over 2000 miles, too, for a substantially more expensive trip. Travel distance is going to be a factor for any school based in the North, so bowls don't look at it as an excuse, particularly when the Big Ten schools, Notre Dame and the Midwestern-based Big 12 schools like Mizzou and Kansas all travel very well. Cincinnati also traveled well for its BCS bowl appearances.

The main problem for this past year's Fiesta Bowl...as it was the 2nd BCS Bowl Game played in that stadium (National Championship Game held there approx a week later), as whenever that happens...in most cases, sponsors/fans have to purchase tix to the first BCS Bowl Game to be eligible and/or receive tix to the BCS Bowl Championship Game...even if they have ZERO interest in the first BCS Bowl Game (heck, most aren't even in town when the first BCS Bowl Game is held), which causes tens of thousands of extra tix to hit the secondary market...as fans can buy tix for $10-$20 but the 2 schools in the first BCS Bowl Game have 17,000 plus allotment of $150-$250 tix to sell and/or BUY themselves.

There has to be a system in for theses BCS Double-Header Games in the same stadium/city (happened before when the BCS Championship Game was held in Miami...as fans that had to buy tix to both games and those same fans/sponsors couldn't give away their BCS Orange Bowl tix the week before), for these 2nd BCS Bowl games in the BCS Championship Location.

That's where Jerry's World (New Cowboy Stadium) could help as they could be the 5th BCS Location site...so that one site doesn't have to host 2 BCS Bowl Games in 7-8 days...but its a huge money maker for host cities/bowls/stadiums to do so...and I don't think they will give up their BCS Double-Headers without a fight.

(04-27-2011 10:16 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(04-27-2011 01:24 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  From UCONN fans there, about 12K+ UCONN fans went to the Fiesta Bowl. Keep in mind its 2000+ miles to get there. They were clearly visible on TV and took over several sections. Yes most of them brought tickets on the open market at 90% discount. Same tickets UCONN were selling for $200 were going for $20 on Stubhub. Problem with Fiesta Bowl was the national championship was played at the same joint. Auburn and Oregon fans were forced to buy Fiesta Bowl tickets in order to get the championship one. Many of them were dumping tickets on UCONN boards, Stubhub etc. It is a horrible setup for UCONN or any school in that situation. Many Sooner fans also brought on the open market and bypass the school route.

The way BCS bowls are set up schools will fail. There is no way you can expect a school to sell 17.5K tickets under that situation.

I completely agree that people generally act in an economically rational manner, and in the case of this year's Fiesta Bowl, it made much more rational economic sense to buy tickets through the secondary market. If I were a UConn or OU fan wanting to go that game, I would've done the exact same thing.

The issue, though, is that bowls don't judge schools and conferences by that secondary market. They don't need help selling tickets to the general public - the whole point is that they want to rely upon schools to directly fill up the bulk of the seats so they can avoid having to sell to the general public as much as possible . As a result, traveling reputations are completely based upon how many tickets the school can sell directly to is fans - plain and simple. They get no credit at all for tickets purchased on the secondary market. A school like Oklahoma gets the benefit of the doubt because they have a long track record of traveling to bowls, so if they don't travel well in one particular year (like this year's Fiesta Bowl), it's looked at as an aberration. A school like UConn doesn't have that long track record, though, so they're going to get scrutinized more heavily and, unfortunately, they're likely going to get stigmatized as a "poor traveling school" in the future whether it's fair or not.

To be fair, the way the BCS bowls are set up aren't necessarily in a manner where *all* schools will fail. Case in point is this year's Rose Bowl, where TCU sold its 20,000 ticket allotment and Wisconsin sold its 37,000 ticket allotment and both schools wanted even more. As someone that has traveled to the Rose Bowl and had planned a contingency Fiesta Bowl trip in conjunction with that, distance is largely irrelevant in terms of price - it's exponentially more expensive to stay in LA during the holidays than the other BCS bowl sites, so the distance argument has never been very persuasive to me as Wisky had to travel over 2000 miles, too, for a substantially more expensive trip. Travel distance is going to be a factor for any school based in the North, so bowls don't look at it as an excuse, particularly when the Big Ten schools, Notre Dame and the Midwestern-based Big 12 schools like Mizzou and Kansas all travel very well. Cincinnati also traveled well for its BCS bowl appearances.

TCU sold its first 20,000 ticket allotment then asked for more and sold 7,000 additional tickets for the Rose Bowl. In the Fiesta Bowl we received a 17,500 allotment sold those and received an additional allotment of 2,100 more and sold those. All TCU bowl tickets to these games were the same price, $125 for the Fiesta and $145 for the Rose Bowl. Seat location depended on priority points.

I know even as a UCF fan, we have trouble getting credit for the people who travel to the games. The Liberty Bowl is a perfect example of this, the SEC teams fans get the preferred side, and half of the other sideline, while the CUSA team gets the endzones and part of the other sideline if you buy through the school. The tickets available to the public are better and cheaper than those offered to a competing teams fans, how does that make sense?

(04-27-2011 11:36 AM)Big Frog II Wrote:  

(04-27-2011 10:16 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(04-27-2011 01:24 AM)SF Husky Wrote:  From UCONN fans there, about 12K+ UCONN fans went to the Fiesta Bowl. Keep in mind its 2000+ miles to get there. They were clearly visible on TV and took over several sections. Yes most of them brought tickets on the open market at 90% discount. Same tickets UCONN were selling for $200 were going for $20 on Stubhub. Problem with Fiesta Bowl was the national championship was played at the same joint. Auburn and Oregon fans were forced to buy Fiesta Bowl tickets in order to get the championship one. Many of them were dumping tickets on UCONN boards, Stubhub etc. It is a horrible setup for UCONN or any school in that situation. Many Sooner fans also brought on the open market and bypass the school route.

The way BCS bowls are set up schools will fail. There is no way you can expect a school to sell 17.5K tickets under that situation.

I completely agree that people generally act in an economically rational manner, and in the case of this year's Fiesta Bowl, it made much more rational economic sense to buy tickets through the secondary market. If I were a UConn or OU fan wanting to go that game, I would've done the exact same thing.

The issue, though, is that bowls don't judge schools and conferences by that secondary market. They don't need help selling tickets to the general public - the whole point is that they want to rely upon schools to directly fill up the bulk of the seats so they can avoid having to sell to the general public as much as possible . As a result, traveling reputations are completely based upon how many tickets the school can sell directly to is fans - plain and simple. They get no credit at all for tickets purchased on the secondary market. A school like Oklahoma gets the benefit of the doubt because they have a long track record of traveling to bowls, so if they don't travel well in one particular year (like this year's Fiesta Bowl), it's looked at as an aberration. A school like UConn doesn't have that long track record, though, so they're going to get scrutinized more heavily and, unfortunately, they're likely going to get stigmatized as a "poor traveling school" in the future whether it's fair or not.

To be fair, the way the BCS bowls are set up aren't necessarily in a manner where *all* schools will fail. Case in point is this year's Rose Bowl, where TCU sold its 20,000 ticket allotment and Wisconsin sold its 37,000 ticket allotment and both schools wanted even more. As someone that has traveled to the Rose Bowl and had planned a contingency Fiesta Bowl trip in conjunction with that, distance is largely irrelevant in terms of price - it's exponentially more expensive to stay in LA during the holidays than the other BCS bowl sites, so the distance argument has never been very persuasive to me as Wisky had to travel over 2000 miles, too, for a substantially more expensive trip. Travel distance is going to be a factor for any school based in the North, so bowls don't look at it as an excuse, particularly when the Big Ten schools, Notre Dame and the Midwestern-based Big 12 schools like Mizzou and Kansas all travel very well. Cincinnati also traveled well for its BCS bowl appearances.

TCU sold its first 20,000 ticket allotment then asked for more and sold 7,000 additional tickets for the Rose Bowl. In the Fiesta Bowl we received a 17,500 allotment sold those and received an additional allotment of 2,100 more and sold those. All TCU bowl tickets to these games were the same price, $125 for the Fiesta and $145 for the Rose Bowl. Seat location depended on priority points.

TCU certainly did well. TCU also had an undefeated team so that had many fans excited.

What happened at UCONN with Fiesta Bowl is no different than many other bowls. OU lost same amount of money if B12 did not step up. Nebraska had trouble selling out their tickets against Washington to Holiday Bowl. Combination of bad economy and horrible bowl ticket pricing policy really messed up the overall sale. I hope they do something to improve this going forward. Conferences should definitely pick up the tab like the B12 if the school can't sell out 17.5K tickets against secondary markets at 90% discount.

Frank - BTW, nothing gonna change as long as bowls are allowed to shovel huge amount of ticket allotments down schools' throat. People aren't stupid. They won't pay for tickets at 90% premium unless they are just itching to give away their money. Most fans will buy them through the secondary market because it is very easy to do so nowadays comparing to before where they have to buy off scalpers. Sites like Stubhub, eBay and Craigslist have changed people's overall ticketing buying habits.

(04-27-2011 12:11 PM)SF Husky Wrote:  Most fans will buy them through the secondary market because it is very easy to do so nowadays comparing to before where they have to buy off scalpers. Sites like Stubhub, eBay and Craigslist have changed people's overall ticketing buying habits.

This. I never pay face for tickets to a sporting event anymore, unless is a huge guaranteed sell-out where the ability to buy tickets first-hand is on a lottery basis and where the secondary market will be more expensive. And literally everyone I know under 40 or who is the least bit tech savvy does the same thing.

(04-27-2011 12:11 PM)SF Husky Wrote:   BTW, nothing gonna change as long as bowls are allowed to shovel huge amount of ticket allotments down schools' throat. People aren't stupid. They won't pay for tickets at 90% premium unless they are just itching to give away their money. Most fans will buy them through the secondary market because it is very easy to do so nowadays comparing to before where they have to buy off scalpers. Sites like Stubhub, eBay and Craigslist have changed people's overall ticketing buying habits.

The only reason why all of these bowl games have guaranteed tix allotments that teams need to buy at FULL PRICE is that for many locals living in those bowl cities...virtually NONE OF THEM will pay $150-$250 (especially in advance before teams are even selected) to attend a game that is meaningless (which almost all of them are outside the National Championship Game).

Many of those bowls could never make a living off requiring locals to pay high tix prices...so they stick the "bill" with those 2 teams that are attending...and force them to pay it.

Why would any conference agree to this high priced bribery?

Well...all of those Univ AD and Conf Commissioners that attended junkets and parties hosted by the Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl, etc...would be a good place to start...as those school/conf officials get free vacations as long as they agree to the Bowls demands ("come on...sign on the dotted line, its not YOUR OWN money required to purchase these high priced rip-off bowl tix").

(04-27-2011 12:51 PM)KnightLight Wrote:  

(04-27-2011 12:11 PM)SF Husky Wrote:   BTW, nothing gonna change as long as bowls are allowed to shovel huge amount of ticket allotments down schools' throat. People aren't stupid. They won't pay for tickets at 90% premium unless they are just itching to give away their money. Most fans will buy them through the secondary market because it is very easy to do so nowadays comparing to before where they have to buy off scalpers. Sites like Stubhub, eBay and Craigslist have changed people's overall ticketing buying habits.

The only reason why all of these bowl games have guaranteed tix allotments that teams need to buy at FULL PRICE is that for many locals living in those bowl cities...virtually NONE OF THEM will pay $150-$250 (especially in advance before teams are even selected) to attend a game that is meaningless (which almost all of them are outside the National Championship Game).

Many of those bowls could never make a living off requiring locals to pay high tix prices...so they stick the "bill" with those 2 teams that are attending...and force them to pay it.

Why would any conference agree to this high priced bribery?

Well...all of those Univ AD and Conf Commissioners that attended junkets and parties hosted by the Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl, etc...would be a good place to start...as those school/conf officials get free vacations as long as they agree to the Bowls demands ("come on...sign on the dotted line, its not YOUR OWN money required to purchase these high priced rip-off bowl tix").

This is why there are so many empty seats at bowls. The local non affliated fans will not attend anymore because of price. This is what will eventually cause a number of these bowls to fail.