Heavy agree, GSC.
Bowl games really are an outdated concept in a world with playoffs. There’s still a place for them but the idea needs to evolve in line with other modernizations.
Good points all around.
As a fan I have to prioritize the fan POV. Which at least in my case is I want Miami to have the best players all the time and beat the living daylights out of every team they play. That’s pretty close to the definition of a fan, no? Fans can’t pick the players on their team, just the team they root for. Here, Miami.
Anything which detracts from the maximal fan experience (e.g., opt outs) is a minus. Of course, one may sympathize with players’ POV. “Enlightened self-interest” runs from Hobbes to Adam Smith and through many socio-political schools of thought of today. And, yes, we are all human. But as a fan I’m way more interested in enjoying four full years of Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, or Frank Gore than in their taking care of their financial well-being and future. Not my immediate concern. Albeit nice as the cherry on top.
What I find interesting in all of this is that ultimately it’s “the fans” who should run the show. Why are there multi-million (billion?) dollar TV deals? Because people (fans) will pay money (cable, streaming, swag, even in person can be related) for the product. If “the fans” did not behave in this manner, the money would dry up, ESPN could not throw the GDP of a small nation at the SEC, coaches wouldn’t make $10M a year, and players would be happy with a free college education and the chance to win one for The Gipper. All of this is because college football is a business built on the back of fan interest and participation.
No fans, no ad revenue, no money, no big business. So, err, the fan POV should be important. Will fans bail on an inferior product? Probably not. They’re fans! But if they ever did in sizable numbers the money would dry up. “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Eventually the dreaded “M word” (monopoly) is going to come up and ESPiN is going to have to cede some ground. At the current rate the best college football is only being seen if you are paying for it . The Rose Bowl like so many others were a Christmas week and New Year’s Day tradition. Now ESPN has squirreled them all away behind pay-walls.
A lot of people have become fed up and have just tuned out. The section of the economy who can’t afford to watch premium college games is where a lot recruits come from. They KNOW it’s all about money. Everybody now knows it’s all about the money and no matter what …the payment issue for players is here to stay.
Kids aren’t stupid. The “win one for the Gipper” idealism wore off years ago as kids started realizing that they were being had. Announcers who worked only college games were suddenly decked out in $2k suits (and that was the early 90’s). Then came the video-games in the late 90’s and early 2k.
Guys saw everyone was making bank…except them.
College coaches started living like lords. Gyms and locker rooms became palatial. NCAA officials and the adjuncts stayed in the nicest hotels …but the kids with their shoulder to the wheel were treated like serfs and vilified for a free hamburger.
The money is not going any where. The fans are happy that the kids are finally getting something . All that needs to change is ripping the monopoly from ESPN and divvying it up among the network with stipulations like …the traditional Bowls be on network tv.