FSU Pulls the “Upset”

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Yeah. That's part of it. There's nothing to look forward to. Although, that probably would've been a crapshoot too. It all reminds me of the pro bowl. Maybe next year, the non playoff bowls will convert to flag football.

Yeah, it's to a point where I would almost rather watch the teams' coaches play basketball or softball against each other.

You can't have a remotely entertaining athletic competition with what some of these teams are missing. Some can't throw a forward pass. Some don't even have a center who can reliably snap the ball.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

PITT could beat this version of FSU.

FSU stunk all year. Similar to last year TCU. Pitt was competitive with FSU A team minus their 2 WRs

 

[Burgh15]

Apparently the rumors were true that FSU was going to boycott this game. Seriously, what an embarrassment even with the starters missing. This was easier than one of those late-season cupcake games SEC teams schedule as a built-in bye week.

 

[BFo8]

One thing that shows the recruiting discrepancies between the haves and the have nots is Georgia playing their 3rd string QB the second half after their 2nd string guy entered the portal.

Gunnar Stockton is something of a local guy that wanted to play for Georgia, but he also had offers from Alabama, Florida, LSU, Ohio st, PSU, USC, and Oregon, amongst many others. This is for a #3 guy that will sit behind Beck and be recruited over many, many times before he ever gets a chance to start.

Kind of depressing to see how the top teams are able to stockpile like that.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Yeah, it's to a point where I would almost rather watch the teams' coaches play basketball or softball against each other.

You can't have a remotely entertaining athletic competition with what some of these teams are missing. Some can't throw a forward pass. Some don't even have a center who can reliably snap the ball.

2 extremely simple solutions:

1. No signing day. Sign when you want to sign. This way teams know who they are getting.

2. Portal doesn't open until January 2. Is this idea too outlandish? How bout we incent the kids to play in bowl games and maybe not make snap judgments about their future? Open it Jan 2 and if that means they only have 1-2 weeks to take transfer visits, so be it. Transfer after the Spring Semester then. It wont kill you.

 

[pittiswhereiamfrom2]

Anybody else thinks FSU wins?

Good prediction

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Good prediction

FSU only had like 45 scholarship players. They basically brought their JV squad. I cant believe the line was only 18.5. As much as I dislike FSU, something needs to change to prevent this from happening again. You cant be trotting out JV teams for these games.

 

[Seneca_Valley]

FSU only had like 45 scholarship players. They basically brought their JV squad. I cant believe the line was only 18.5. As much as I dislike FSU, something needs to change to prevent this from happening again. You cant be trotting out JV teams for these games.

To make the change you want, we need to see more blowouts. Nothing else will get the attention of stakeholders like the sound of TV sets clicking off.

A sharp decline in bowl attendance will also help. Don't see myself attending anymore. After all, if half the team doesn't find it worthwhile, why should I?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

A sharp decline in bowl attendance will also help.

Most bowl games don't rely on attendance. At this point most bowl games are nothing more than television programming. And that's certainly not changing when the 12 team playoff starts.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

To make the change you want, we need to see more blowouts. Nothing else will get the attention of stakeholders like the sound of TV sets clicking off.

A sharp decline in bowl attendance will also help. Don't see myself attending anymore. After all, if half the team doesn't find it worthwhile, why should I?

Right. People wont stop watching. FSU could have had their cheerleading squad go play Georgia and millions still would have watched. There's really no way to stop the drug that is college football. People must watch.

 

[Seneca_Valley]

Most bowl games don't rely on attendance. At this point most bowl games are nothing more than television programming. And that's certainly not changing when the 12 team playoff starts.

Joe, I recognize that TV rules. But I think the cities that host bowls would appreciate more out-of-town visitors, not less. And FWIW, the optics look bad.

 

[Seneca_Valley]

Right. People wont stop watching. FSU could have had their cheerleading squad go play Georgia and millions still would have watched. There's really no way to stop the drug that is college football. People must watch.

WTF are you talking about? I most certainly will watch the playoffs, but I have wasted only four hours of my life watching the rest of the bowls. And I think there are far more of me than those who are glued to their set.

If you ask me, interest is heading south, and conference shuffling, the portal, NIL, and early opt-outs are dragging it down.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Joe, I recognize that TV rules. But I think the cities that host bowls would appreciate more out-of-town visitors, not less. And FWIW, the optics look bad.

What the cities want is irrelevant. The bowls are privately owned to make 2-3 people rich. Those 2-3 people dont care how many hotel rooms are booked. They care how much ESPN is paying them to televise their game. Sure, they would love to sell more tickets but that's secondary income for them. And they require that each school buy very overpriced tickets so they are guaranteed a certain amount of ticket revenue anyway. Its a fantastic business

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

WTF are you talking about? I most certainly will watch the playoffs, but I have wasted only four hours of my life watching the rest of the bowls. And I think there are far more of me than those who are glued to their set.

If you ask me, interest is heading south, and conference shuffling, the portal, NIL, and early opt-outs are dragging it down.

People cannot stop watching these games. There's nothing else on and people watch. Almost 3 million people watched Duke vs Troy

College Football TV Ratings

College football TV ratings for the 2024 regular season, bowls, College Football Playoff and National Championship.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

 

[Seneca_Valley]

What the cities want is irrelevant. The bowls are privately owned to make 2-3 people rich. Those 2-3 people dont care how many hotel rooms are booked. They care how much ESPN is paying them to televise their game. Sure, they would love to sell more tickets but that's secondary income for them. And they require that each school buy very overpriced tickets so they are guaranteed a certain amount of ticket revenue anyway. It's a fantastic business

No one is getting rich on TV money for a shit bowl played at a time no one will watch. And it's not just the tickets. Hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues might disagree with you let alone the host cities who appreciate the income and taxes they provide.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

No one is getting rich on TV money for a shit bowl played at a time no one will watch. And it's not just the tickets. Hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues might disagree with you let alone the host cities who appreciate the income and taxes they provide.

ESPN is paying a lot of money to televise these games. How do you think these bowls make money? Some only have attendance of 3K or 4K people. They make money off the ESPN contract and the naming sponsor. Attendance is not the primary source of income.

And please stop bringing up hotels and restaurants. The 2 or 3 people running the bowl game business dont care about that. The city might but that doesnt matter. If I started a Pittsburgh Bowl next year, why the eff would I care how many hotel rooms were bought? I dont make money off that. I make money from ESPN and Lume for naming my bowl. Of course, I'd like to sell as many tickets as possible but that's the 3rd revenue source.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

This is easily the least I've watched any bowl season. Maybe 4 or 5 hours total. I will watch some games tomorrow though.

They're also pretty much unbettable for me since I have no idea who is going to be playing in most of these games.

All these bowl games won't last much longer.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Joe, I recognize that TV rules. But I think the cities that host bowls would appreciate more out-of-town visitors, not less. And FWIW, the optics look bad.

Yeah, sure, the cities would like more out of town visitors. But that isn't why they play the games. I mean it used to be a big part of the reason that they played the games. But for most of the bowl games that isn't something that they care all that much about anymore. The games aren't run by the local tourism bureau, they are, by and large, run by ESPN.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The games aren't run by the local tourism bureau, they are, by and large, run by ESPN.

ESPN does own some but not the majority. But you are correct in that ESPN absolutely doesn't care how crowded they make the restaurants in Birmingham. They make money from advertisers

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

ESPN does own some

17 of them.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

17 of them.

Dang, I was thinking 7-8. Still though not the majority. Even the locally owned games still dont care about hotels

 

[BFo8]

Dang, I was thinking 7-8. Still though not the majority. Even the locally owned games still dont care about hotels

I would say El Paso might be an exception.

 

[USN_Panther]

I would say El Paso might be an exception.

Ironically not an ESPN bowl.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I would say El Paso might be an exception.

No. I doubt the El Paso Bureau of Tourism owns the bowl. Like any, it exists to make a couple guys a lot of money. They make their money from CBS, Tony the Tiger, and requiring teams to buy 10K tickets (roughly). They dont care how many people buy hotel rooms.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I thought the Sun Bowl was actually one of the ones that sold a lot of tickets (relatively speaking) to the locals.

 

[BFo8]

I thought the Sun Bowl was actually one of the ones that sold a lot of tickets (relatively speaking) to the locals.

They do. I think I misunderstood the discussion, my point was the city of El Paso actually does count on things like hotel rooms and bars/restaurants being crowded. Or at least they always say that they do.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

They do. I think I misunderstood the discussion, my point was the city of El Paso actually does count on things like hotel rooms and bars/restaurants being crowded. Or at least they always say that they do.

Every city wants hotels and restaurants sold. El Paso is no different than Shreveport or Las Vegas or Boston. My point is that the 2 or 3 guys getting rich off the bowl game do not care how many are sold. They dont work for the Bureu of Tourism. Although they may say they sold X amount of hotel rooms, its not a consideration for them. They want the TV money, the naming rights money, and then the ticket revenue. If they could select like an 11-1 UTEP team that would sell the game out, they would despite not selling hotel rooms to those folks

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

"The Sun Bowl Association was founded in 1934 with a threefold purpose: 1) to present a football attraction of national importance, 2) to promote El Paso and the Southwest and 3) to generate tourist income for the area."

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

"The Sun Bowl Association was founded in 1934 with a threefold purpose: 1) to present a football attraction of national importance, 2) to promote El Paso and the Southwest and 3) to generate tourist income for the area."

That is why bowl games were created. It doesn't hold true anymore. Most important is to maximize the TV contract.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Most important is to maximize the TV contract.

"Most important"? Yeah, absolutely. But some of the bowl games, most of the non-ESPN games, still want to bring in fans to the games.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

"Most important"? Yeah, absolutely. But some of the bowl games, most of the non-ESPN games, still want to bring in fans to the games.

Of course they do. But what they dont care about AT ALL are hotel rooms and restaurants. The couple guys running the bowl dont get a cut of hotel rooms and restaurants.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Of course they do. But what they dont care about AT ALL are hotel rooms and restaurants. The couple guys running the bowl dont get a cut of hotel rooms and restaurants.

The people on these bowl game committees (the non-ESPN bowls) are, typically, local business leaders. Of course they want people coming to the game and staying in town.

It isn't their primary motivation at this point, but to say that they don't care about it at all is, even by your standards, absurd.