(05-06-2013 11:21 PM)CatMom Wrote: Playoff games at the "lower levels" are played at the higher seeds stadium, not neutral sites. Only the championship game is at a neutral site.
Believe it or not, people do travel to those far off games on a weeks notice. Don't use SHSU as an example because their fanbase doesn't even show up for home games, let alone playoffs.
In 2005 we were over our 15,258 capacity, could easily have sold out a 20k+ stadium if we had the room and we played teams from GA, CA and IA. We turned people away and sold out for the semi-final in 2 days. This was a team who had languished in FCS mediocrity for nearly 2 decades. The visiting teams traveled well.
You can't tell me fans, once the thing gets some legs, wouldn't make the arrrangements and go where they had to for a playoff game. Folks from the "big schools" seem to have the money to travel all around the country for 6 games already. I'm sure they'd manage.
You will be surprised what the excitement of a real playoff system will produce.
again hype and not reality
http://dallas.sbnation.com/2012/1/4/2681...-break-fcs
the 2011 FCS championship drew 13,027 and the record was set in 1996 was 32,106
so again unless fans can drive there and there are adequate facilities it will be a joke
and you said if yourself....."IF we had the seats".....that is the problem with playing the game at the home of the team with the better record....so one year you are going to tell 10-3 Alabama sorry you should have gone 11-2 in the Sunbelt like ULM did so here is your 4,000 tickets and good luck getting a hotel room.....again that is a joke and goes directly against everything that is being stated about "what a huge money making event this would be"......because it would be a joke played in a small venue with crappy facilities in a town that would struggle to hold all the people and service them and after a season or two of that the major conference teams would be breaking away and going on their own
the NFL blocks out rooms in all 32 cities for a price year in and year out....that is not possible to do with 124 D1-A teams and again with half of the teams in D1-A being in cities without regularly scheduled air service and enough hotel rooms to hold their regular season fans (if they did bother to show up) you are going to be looking at a disaster when one of those small market teams sneaks in every so often....and if you are talking about having the conference champions all represented (another laugher) then you will have that crap happen every year year in and year out
when pretty much every bowl team out there loses money on a bowl game except those that play in the BCS games (and they just break even because of conference distributions) the idea that all this huge money is left on the table is just BS and a lot of wishful thinking.....if bowl games outside of the BCS had the money they would be offering it up to still move up to the top of the pecking order in the non-BCS games and if their bowl game had the viewers and fan support to demand the networks pay more they would be demanding it
and most of the bowl games don't come close to selling out and many of them offer much better match ups for the random "college football fan" than a Sunbelt or CSUA champion VS the SEC champ because the #2 or #3 in the PAC or Big 12 or Big 10 VS the #2 or #3 in the SEC or ACC is a much better match up and that still will not sell out or draw huge ratings
NCAA basketball is able to make it work because 1. they can play basketball games with a one or no day break so fans of teams can make a trip and know they will have a chance to see their team play more than one game possibly
2. they need many fewer fans to fill a venue
3. with multiple games every day and day after day "basketball fans" can show up and see a bunch of games and even if one sucks they have several more to see
4. they are in major cities that have the needed infrastructure in place to support the crowds and that offer an attraction to the crowd.....take the D1-AA game last year....the north Dakota fans were excited to see their team play, but they were also excited to get to come to a major metro area and shop, dine out, get out of the extreme cold, and see other attractions...just like Arkansas fans used to fill reunion arena back during the SWC games because dallas offered them a destination trip.....going to Monroe, LA....The Little Apple, San Marcos, Waco, Lubbock, Jonesboro and on and on are not destinations and with a single event as the draw people will just not make that trip especially if they think their team will win and they might make a trip for a game of more relevance
again you pointed out one of the MAJOR problems....IF WE HAD THE SEATS....TURNING PEOPLE AWAY.....the major programs are not going to be subjected to having their teams play in "meaningful" home and home playoff games where their fans cannot get a decent allotment of tickets and decent facilities and services and then at the same time when the neutral site games come around those same major programs and their fans are going to be the ones expected to do the heavy lifting and deliver 45K or 50K fans out of 80K+ needed fans to fill a major venue while the other team if they manage to win delivers 25K fans after hosting a playoff game the week before that had 35K or 40K in attendance if that
and the reality is even in Tuscaloosa, The Little Apple and the like there is a chance that something else could be going on when the playoff game comes up....like an FFA convention, some sales meeting, some regional HS football game and on and on.....the hotels in those cities are not just going to hold rooms open and skip booking conventions and other events on the off chance that this year will be the year when we need to have a home playoff game they simply can't afford to.....for every team like Alabama in the SEC there is a team like MSU or Ole' Miss that might one year make a playoff and need to have a home game, but 15 out of 16 years that won't happen or in the PAC....Cal, WSU and several others would be in a dire situation if they had to hose a home game on short notice.....but once in a blue moon they will, but the facilities on those places are not just going to hold themselves open year in and year out to accommodate that...same with TAMU, ISU, TTU, KSU, KU, BU and on and on and on....they are going to book other things a year or more in advance because they have to to keep the doors open year in and year out and a lot of those places will have already booked high school championships and the like as well and the hotels will be booked or partially booked along with the stadium
and yes many of those places host large crowds during the regular season, but those games are scheduled a year or more in advance....look what it does to the attendance of even decent programs if they have a game moved from a Sat to a Thursday night or a Friday night with only a few months notice....it cost them thousands of live fans at least over and over that happens.....now try having a playoff game scheduled a week in advance and see how you get hotels ready, fans to get days off, travel plans and on and on.....you won't you will have a failure and people not having a good time because their rooms were over booked, they could not get anything to eat for hours and on and on
hell two years ago Texas Tech had expanded their stadium by 5K or 6K and had switched concessions companies and they ran out of water and other non-alcoholic drinks in the beginning of the third quarter and had fans passing out and that was with a nationally know concessions company operating the new contract......you don't just get food and beverages and police presence and on and on for 60K+ people together in a week for a playoff game that was decided the week before.....people that believe that crap are clueless and have no idea what it takes to get a game together......parking attendants, concession stand vendors, security, hotel staff, restaurant staff, Cstore staff, cleaning crews, gasoline supplies, emergency utility workers (the lights do go out see the superbowl) and on and on.....those people are not just sitting around on standby especially in cities of 200K or less waiting to see if a playoff is coming next week
and again for those that want to say look at the NFL.....the NFL has 32 teams, they are all in major markets or very very close to a major market in the case of Greenbay, and they DO block out rooms and have people on standby waiting for the playoffs and that is not possible with 124 D1-A teams or even half that amount