Bowling for Dollars

Originally posted on Foxsports.com on December 16, 2005.

I'll be honest:  I couldn't begin to explain the BCS championship system.  I tried to figure it out, but decided that anytime you combined sportswriters, coaches and computers, what are the odds of it being a logical system?

It frustrated me that it appeared that better teams were getting lesser bowl bids.  How unfair that so-and-so didn't get a chance to play for the title.  Then I realized that I was missing the big picture:  it isn't about football glory as much as it is about money.

Think about it.  Millions of dollars are made each year by a variety of corporations, colleges, communities and individuals through the BCS system. 

First, there are huge sponsorship dollars when we have the Frito-Lays Corn Bowl with the Victoria's Secret Half-Time Extravaganza.  And don't forget the Kodak Moment of the Game.  These corporate giants pay money to get their name in lights - for the hope that some fan decides to eat Frito-Lays while wearing their favorite VS bra and watching the game.

Colleges and universities generate revenue either directly through the sales of bowl gear or indirectly through the publicity.  And don't forget the recruiting benefit to the team - be it through future players or a better pool of dates for the players.  Better looking underclassmen = better chance Big Recruit comes to your school.

Travel agencies, ticket brokers, airlines, hotels, restaurants, car rental companies and communities collect money from bowl attendees.  In most places, the hotel-motel taxes collected during bowl season should at least cover the looting and rioting done by the winning, I mean, losing team's fans.

Hundreds of entertainers are employed as dancers/singers for the pre-game, half-time and post-game shows.  Lesser known pop tarts and average bands get the chance to have commentators talk over their current hit, which was #63 on the Billboard 100 prior to the game, while they play to a captive audience who otherwise wouldn't know or care who they were.

Players who make the Kodak Moment of the Game translate that success into dollars in awards or (hopefully) professional football contracts.  In the event they aren't "good enough" for professional football, there are plenty of employers, alumni or corporations happy to attach their name to the hero of the bowl game. 

We fans spend our hard earned money to get the pleasure and the memories of watching the game.  In the end, we're winners too - because the credit card interest we generate with our bowl trips will sponsor next year's bowl games.  And, most importantly,  without a true playoff, we don't have to admit that our team wasn't the best.