(05-07-2021 11:22 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(05-07-2021 07:21 AM)CoastalJuan Wrote:  One could assume that a quarter-final Rose Bowl would probably be good for at least 2x the meaningless version.

Not true. We know that's not the case because we have data comparing semifinal Rose Bowl games to Rose Bowl games that are just another bowl game. The semifinal Rose Bowl games draw a larger audience, but well short of twice as large.

1/1/2021 Rose Bowl, semifinal: 18.9 million viewers

1/1/2020 Rose Bowl, not a semifinal: 16.3 million viewers

1/1/2019 Rose Bowl, not a semifinal: 16.8 million viewers

1/1/2018 Rose Bowl, semifinal: 26.9 million viewers

Further, the audience size for any Rose Bowl game, semi or not, owes something to the time slot. The Rose and Sugar have the two best time slots in college football, by far, and would draw smaller audiences if you played those games as first round playoff games on the third Saturday in December instead of as bowls or semifinals on January 1st.

I'd say the Rose Bowl has a particular resonance as an event in American culture similar to the Kentucky Derby and The Masters. That's why the Big Ten and Pac-12 care about it so much - it's the one bowl game that actually MATTERS. However, I don't think any of the other bowls carry that same weight, so in the context of the overall system, it's not even a question that playoff games are worth much more than the non-semifinal NY6 bowls.

To that point, though, your point about the time slot is valid. No one is moving the Rose Bowl to mid-December or the second week of January. You might see a neutral site playoff game that happens to be played in Pasadena during those times (similar to when the National Championship Game was held in Pasadena in addition to the Rose Bowl during the latter part of the BCS era), but it won't be the Rose Bowl Game itself. That specific game will be happening after the Tournament of Roses Parade.