(02-22-2021 11:18 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(02-22-2021 10:37 PM)nodak651 Wrote:  

(02-22-2021 07:45 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(02-22-2021 07:32 PM)nodak651 Wrote:  The solution is to stop looking outward and instead look inward. Build excitement around a true post season playoff format, similar to the FCS. With buy-in, a G5 playoff would be more exciting and draw more eyeballs and money to the G5 schools than what they are currently getting.

Somehow, that sounds exactly like what most of the schools in CUSA and the Sun Belt recently decided they didn't want. If a tournament like that was so lucrative, why did they all give it up to move to the FBS where they could play in a bowl game?

Because they are chasing the status and prestige of being called an FBS school, and they like to pretend they are competing with the P5 for the same championship even though any participation is really a pipe dream. It's so easy for any decent school in the south to move to FBS that there isn't really a reason not to (other than added expenses and debt that exceed any gain in revenue) If I was in charge I would move my school up too.. But what I'm saying is that the G5 can be done better.

You imply that I am saying the FCS tournament is lucrative? I know it isn't. The FCS has its own challenges that have nothing to do with the merit of my proposal, since the issue at the FCS level is just that there are too many small schools with small budgets and small fan bases. That said, there is a reason that FCS fans are so excited to bring up the playoffs - it's just way more fun and they know it's a better format.

With larger fanbases and better exposure at the G5 level, the tournament would have 10x the potential. As a fan of a MAC/CUSA/SunBelt school, wouldn't you want to watch teams in your conference want to knock others out of the playoffs? BS this school vs that school arguments can actually get settled on the field. Compare that with a bowl game, where you may end up playing a school barely above 500 because you don't have the right bowl tie in or because schools refuse to play you. Wtf is that..

The assumption you're making is that it won't get better for the G5.

As a MAC fan I can remember the days of 1 bowl for the champion only. No hope ever of making a NYD game.

G5 TV deals are off the charts from 10 years ago. MAC got an 8 fold increase in TV money from its individual deal and 20 fold increase from the CFP. MAC made $32 million in money from ESPN the year WMU made the Cotton Bowl.

I would say that an assumption that it won't get significantly better for the G5 is a pretty rational one. The MAC got a raise in TV money by sacrificing ticket revenue. Hard to say whether their total revenue increased much. And, financially, those additional bowl games don't exactly bring in the big bucks after you deduct the expenses of the participating teams.

If more net revenue from football is the goal there's going to be a lot of disappointment among G5 schools. But I don't think that's the goal. Probably more exposure is a goal, but I doubt a playoff would achieve that as well as pre-Christmas bowl games (which isn't saying much).