(12-16-2013 03:46 PM)CommuterBob Wrote: There already is a 20-team playoff of a lower level of D1 football that nobody watches. What makes you think people are going to magically watch another NIT, when the ones that are in place don't get any ratings? How is that going to be MORE lucrative than going to bowl games?
From what I've learned, profit can be determined by this simple formula:
Profit = income - cost
For most bowl games the cost portion is so high that pretty much every team loses money, whether they are P5 or G5. Note I said most - big bowls ( which does not include UCF in the Fiesta this year) pull in enough to make it worth it to the teams. College presidents write it off as a "promotional expense" so they can attend the "Rose Bowl Golf Tournament" and "Sugar Bowl Cruise" in the summers. As mentioned in the post I quoted, the Sun Belt this year and San Jose St last year tried to "buy their way in" further increasing the cost.
However, what happens when we drop that "cost" figure to something very small? The income gets converted to profit. With playoffs at home locations, it changes the picture.
Let's take a typical low-level G5 team. Say they can expect only 25K attendance, with an average revenue/fan of $20. That is $500K. Assume that the cost to operate the stadium for one game is $100K, and travel expenses for the visiting team is $100K. Then, assume that the TV money will be similar to a lower-level bowl. Due to cross-promotion of games it is more valuable, but since I'm lowballing assume only $500k in TV money. Split the ticket revenue 2:1 for the home team, and split the TV money 1:1. Home team *profits* $450K, and visiting team *profits* $350K.
That may not sound like much, but let's assume an average team loses only $100K going to a bowl game. That is a difference of half a million dollars. Also, multiply the profit by 2-3 games and that is more money than SB teams get from playing one-and-done games with the SEC. While Texas could find that much money in Mack Brown's couch, it would be a significant fractional boost to SBC and MAC teams.
I certainly invite you to run your own numbers, and tell me your estimates at profit and loss. There are plenty of smart and knowledgeable people on the board that would have more accurate numbers than the SWAG's I threw up. But I think they will support the same premise: a low level playoff (even a bottom-feeder playoff) would be much more lucrative to the SunBelt and MAC than low-level bowls currently are.