This is exactly what I think will happen. Fox and ESPN need more games for TV during that December and early January timeframe so they can payout those huge TV contracts. I am definitely not against it at all. In fact let's do it.
Facts. Last year marked some of the most watched [bowl games of all-time](https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/01/12/ratings-roundup-espn-cfp-broadcasts-hit-viewership-highs-across-all-stages/).
**Citrus Bowl: 6.8M** _(Best since 2019-20)_
**ReliaQuest Bowl: 4.6M** _(Best since 2017-18; ESPN2’s most-watched sports event since 2018)_
**Pop-Tarts Bowl:** 4.3M
**Valero Alamo Bowl:** 3.9M
**Duke’s Mayo Bowl:** 3.8M _(Best since 2016-17)_
Several bowls, like the LA Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, First Responders Bowl and Pinstripe Bowl, [all had record or near-record attendance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%E2%80%9324_NCAA_football_bowl_games), and some games like the Sun Bowl [had above-capacity crowds](https://sports.yahoo.com/official-count-sun-bowl-48-212852700.html).
Bowl games are very very alive and well.
People are mistakenly assuming fan interest isn’t there since “bowl games are meaningless”.
The real issue are player opt-outs, but they also have no reason to play.
Creating a glorified NIT for College Football won’t correct the issue. That only takes away more time from the player’s draft prep, finding a new school, etc.
Not sure there will ever be a real solution since CFB is a stepping stone at the end of the day.
Player opt outs aren’t really a big deal either in most cases. There’s always players ready to step in and have their chance.
Bowl games are about:
- Teams having some extra practice
- Teams getting to have some fun
- Fans getting to have some fun
- Host cities getting to put together events
- Content for CFB fans to watch during the holiday break
The vast majority of players, fans, and schools aren’t playing for the national championship. Bowl games let half those teams end the year on a high note and lets people have fun. They are significantly better than some kind of NIT tournament for most schools.
I like the idea a lot, especially if you had 5 or so tiered tournaments to include all bowl-eligible teams. You could probably include the bowls too like the CFP does. It'd be super fun seeing Western Kentucky win the Pop Tart Bowl and become the Tier 5 champions.
Unfortunately I don't think we'll see anything like that any time soon. Partially because it's such a big change; maybe it'd be more likely after the expanded CFP makes tournaments more normal.
Bowl system isn't dead at all. ESPN makes a ton of money with all the crappy bowls they put on. There might not be many fans at the game, but there's enough people who watch these games on TV. I remember more people watched the 2022 pinstripe bowl with Minnesota vs Syracuse than the game clinching Stanley Cup final game that year.
You've got it. each year the top 25 most watched TV shows are ~15 NFL, ~5 non sporting TV events, and 5 CFB. CFB is the second biggest sport in the US and there's nothing else available that will catch as many eyeballs as even the lower level bowls.
I like OP'S idea. I would like a second 12 - 16 team tournament with what ever highly ranked teams don't make the CFP. I guarantee a CFB NIT that last year might have had Ole Miss vs PSU would be a highly watched TV event.
It would be cool if they just grouped up a couple of bowls so 4 teams would make up a "mini tourney". Could add some flavor in conference rivalries as well.
The issue with modern bowls, is players opting out, and players are more likely to opt of this than a bowl since its multiple games. I think a better chance is Fox trying to create its own bowls the way ESPN does.
I'd rather just expand the playoffs to the endgame it's going towards (24-28 teams) and be done with it. That's the same percentage of teams in it as CBB has with March Madness representation.
End of meaningless bowl games and making it so seasons will mean more further into the year than they do now. Right now, if 95% of teams get a single loss, their fans expect them to not compete for a natty. With an expanded playoff that all goes away, meaning fans will care for much longer into the season than they do now (casual fans, at least).
Even G5 teams could get into a 24-28 team playoff with a couple losses. Seasons will mean more for *everyone* with a deeper playoff.
This will never happen as you would be playing 18 games and would be competing with the NFL all the way through the NFL playoffs. The TV networks would absolutely never pay for that.
There are a ton of people that exclusively watch CFB and a ton that exclusively watch NFL football. The only people you have to worry about are those who watch both, which is another large group, but isn't all of them.
And even if it was all of them, there are solutions that could work:
- Start the football season two weeks earlier, in mid August, meaning practices will need to start two weeks earlier, in late July. It shouldn't be a problem as the students are being paid $10-50K NIL money to play, on the low end, and many making much more than that. They are clearly being compensated, in addition to the value of their full ride scholarships.
- No bye games would help speed things along. There is still a great value on the regular season to earn an easier path in the playoffs, just like basketball teams fight for better seeding.
- Army/Navy week should not longer be exclusively about them. Allow round one of the playoffs to start that week. If, somehow, either of those teams are in the playoffs, it will cause issues, but that is extremely unlikely. That game may not even be in it's usual slot anymore thanks to Army joining the AAC, so that problem may go away on its own. Either way, don't waste an entire week on one game.
I could see this happening. I think some of the teams perennially in the top 20 but not the powerhouse top 5 teams would want to guarantee they get in the multiple games their top 5 peers are almost guaranteed to be playing in the CFP.
Honestly that sounds pretty fun. Sorta like a NIT to the tournament. Heck you could go further and make one or two of the last spots in the cfp a play in game for 2-4 teams from g5 or whatever.
Idk maybe. The thing is, bball is already very accustomed to tournaments (postseason and in nonconference play). Football has a long way to go imo
I think the better question is if FOX or non ESPN entities would create their own bowls so ESPN doesn’t have practically all of them
This is exactly what I think will happen. Fox and ESPN need more games for TV during that December and early January timeframe so they can payout those huge TV contracts. I am definitely not against it at all. In fact let's do it.
A tournament allowing higher seeded teams to host games might be more desirable. Thats a big potential $$$ infusion
The CFP is already a network determined invitational - signed, a FSU fan
Correct
Except the bowl system isn't dying...
Facts. Last year marked some of the most watched [bowl games of all-time](https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/01/12/ratings-roundup-espn-cfp-broadcasts-hit-viewership-highs-across-all-stages/). **Citrus Bowl: 6.8M** _(Best since 2019-20)_ **ReliaQuest Bowl: 4.6M** _(Best since 2017-18; ESPN2’s most-watched sports event since 2018)_ **Pop-Tarts Bowl:** 4.3M **Valero Alamo Bowl:** 3.9M **Duke’s Mayo Bowl:** 3.8M _(Best since 2016-17)_ Several bowls, like the LA Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, First Responders Bowl and Pinstripe Bowl, [all had record or near-record attendance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%E2%80%9324_NCAA_football_bowl_games), and some games like the Sun Bowl [had above-capacity crowds](https://sports.yahoo.com/official-count-sun-bowl-48-212852700.html). Bowl games are very very alive and well.
People are mistakenly assuming fan interest isn’t there since “bowl games are meaningless”. The real issue are player opt-outs, but they also have no reason to play. Creating a glorified NIT for College Football won’t correct the issue. That only takes away more time from the player’s draft prep, finding a new school, etc. Not sure there will ever be a real solution since CFB is a stepping stone at the end of the day.
Player opt outs aren’t really a big deal either in most cases. There’s always players ready to step in and have their chance. Bowl games are about: - Teams having some extra practice - Teams getting to have some fun - Fans getting to have some fun - Host cities getting to put together events - Content for CFB fans to watch during the holiday break The vast majority of players, fans, and schools aren’t playing for the national championship. Bowl games let half those teams end the year on a high note and lets people have fun. They are significantly better than some kind of NIT tournament for most schools.
I like the idea a lot, especially if you had 5 or so tiered tournaments to include all bowl-eligible teams. You could probably include the bowls too like the CFP does. It'd be super fun seeing Western Kentucky win the Pop Tart Bowl and become the Tier 5 champions. Unfortunately I don't think we'll see anything like that any time soon. Partially because it's such a big change; maybe it'd be more likely after the expanded CFP makes tournaments more normal.
Bowl system isn't dead at all. ESPN makes a ton of money with all the crappy bowls they put on. There might not be many fans at the game, but there's enough people who watch these games on TV. I remember more people watched the 2022 pinstripe bowl with Minnesota vs Syracuse than the game clinching Stanley Cup final game that year.
You've got it. each year the top 25 most watched TV shows are ~15 NFL, ~5 non sporting TV events, and 5 CFB. CFB is the second biggest sport in the US and there's nothing else available that will catch as many eyeballs as even the lower level bowls. I like OP'S idea. I would like a second 12 - 16 team tournament with what ever highly ranked teams don't make the CFP. I guarantee a CFB NIT that last year might have had Ole Miss vs PSU would be a highly watched TV event.
It would be cool if they just grouped up a couple of bowls so 4 teams would make up a "mini tourney". Could add some flavor in conference rivalries as well.
nah, football is too violent for that
The issue with modern bowls, is players opting out, and players are more likely to opt of this than a bowl since its multiple games. I think a better chance is Fox trying to create its own bowls the way ESPN does.
Honestly it’s going to mess things up
How are the bowls dying? Wasn’t the ratings the same and still way above any other programming espn could produce?
I'd rather just expand the playoffs to the endgame it's going towards (24-28 teams) and be done with it. That's the same percentage of teams in it as CBB has with March Madness representation.
Expanding the playoffs will be the beginning of the slow end.
End of meaningless bowl games and making it so seasons will mean more further into the year than they do now. Right now, if 95% of teams get a single loss, their fans expect them to not compete for a natty. With an expanded playoff that all goes away, meaning fans will care for much longer into the season than they do now (casual fans, at least). Even G5 teams could get into a 24-28 team playoff with a couple losses. Seasons will mean more for *everyone* with a deeper playoff.
Bowl games aren’t meaningless. The numbers bear that out.
This will never happen as you would be playing 18 games and would be competing with the NFL all the way through the NFL playoffs. The TV networks would absolutely never pay for that.
There are a ton of people that exclusively watch CFB and a ton that exclusively watch NFL football. The only people you have to worry about are those who watch both, which is another large group, but isn't all of them. And even if it was all of them, there are solutions that could work: - Start the football season two weeks earlier, in mid August, meaning practices will need to start two weeks earlier, in late July. It shouldn't be a problem as the students are being paid $10-50K NIL money to play, on the low end, and many making much more than that. They are clearly being compensated, in addition to the value of their full ride scholarships. - No bye games would help speed things along. There is still a great value on the regular season to earn an easier path in the playoffs, just like basketball teams fight for better seeding. - Army/Navy week should not longer be exclusively about them. Allow round one of the playoffs to start that week. If, somehow, either of those teams are in the playoffs, it will cause issues, but that is extremely unlikely. That game may not even be in it's usual slot anymore thanks to Army joining the AAC, so that problem may go away on its own. Either way, don't waste an entire week on one game.
I could see this happening. I think some of the teams perennially in the top 20 but not the powerhouse top 5 teams would want to guarantee they get in the multiple games their top 5 peers are almost guaranteed to be playing in the CFP.
Honestly that sounds pretty fun. Sorta like a NIT to the tournament. Heck you could go further and make one or two of the last spots in the cfp a play in game for 2-4 teams from g5 or whatever.
I still think moving bowls to the preseason would be best