CFP discussed expansion ideas.

[belcherboy]

What conference is going to intentionally lose money for their members by taking away a regular season game?

Would it lose money if at least 1/3 of your conference was in the tournament? I mean, would losing a game against a MAC or less school really hurt their finances more than gaining several playoff games would add to the conference?

 

[wazzu31]

Would it lose money if at least 1/3 of your conference was in the tournament? I mean, would losing a game against a MAC or less school really hurt their finances more than gaining several playoff games would add to the conference?

It should. You get guaranteed revenue of played games and then get to split however many teams from your conference got in and how far they made it. If a conference can 3 of the final 4 then sure it does. But I don’t see how the financing is the same taking away home games from conference members.

 

[cclxxxvdicere]

Would it lose money if at least 1/3 of your conference was in the tournament? I mean, would losing a game against a MAC or less school really hurt their finances more than gaining several playoff games would add to the conference?

There is no way that a third of any conference makes the playoff or that the loss of a home games income by a school would be made up for by their share of the proceeds from the playoff even if it did. An Alabama home game is worth $15-20M to the school and the businesses in Tuscaloosa, even if the schools were made whole of the loss in ticket revenue, which they wouldn’t be, those local businesses would lose a big chunk of their yearly income and the city and state would lose out on the sales and lodging taxes.

 

[belcherboy]

There is no way that a third of any conference makes the playoff or that the loss of a home games income by a school would be made up for by their share of the proceeds from the playoff even if it did. An Alabama home game is worth $15-20M to the school and the businesses in Tuscaloosa, even if the schools were made whole of the loss in ticket revenue, which they wouldn’t be, those local businesses would lose a big chunk of their yearly income and the city and state would lose out on the sales and lodging taxes.

Read my original idea. If there were 24 teams in the playoffs, it would not be unheard of for a single conference to have 4-6 teams.

So, with my original proposal, you are saying that Alabama would make more with a Mercer home game, than with one or maybe even two more home playoff games??

Remember, the current playoff system has ZERO home playoff games, and only the potential of two rounds of games.

 

[belcherboy]

It should. You get guaranteed revenue of played games and then get to split however many teams from your conference got in and how far they made it. If a conference can 3 of the final 4 then sure it does. But I don’t see how the financing is the same taking away home games from conference members.

Again, you were replying to my idea of a 24 team playoff. Trading a regular season home game against a low level opponent, for what would be several home playoff games for conference members seems like an easy money trade.

 

[cclxxxvdicere]

I’m only considering proposals that actually have a chance of happening, and a 24 team FBS playoff isn’t happening, no matter how much you wish otherwise. The issue is not whether Alabama could make as much money playing 2 more playoff games instead of a regular season game against Mercer, but whether the SEC teams that didn’t make the playoff would make as much money from Alabama playing those those playoff games instead of them playing another home game. The answer to that is no.

 

[belcherboy]

I’m only considering proposals that actually have a chance of happening, and a 24 team FBS playoff isn’t happening, no matter how much you wish otherwise. The issue is not whether Alabama could make as much money playing 2 more playoff games instead of a regular season game against Mercer, but whether the SEC teams that didn’t make the playoff would make as much money from Alabama playing those those playoff games instead of them playing another home game. The answer to that is no.

Again, re-read my post. I admitted it wouldn’t happen. I think you jumped into the middle of a discussion without reading the post.

Everything I said about eliminating one regular season game in that post was predicated in having a 24 team playoff. I would guarantee that giving 5-6 of top teams in the SEC the potential of an extra 2-4 playoff games would more than make up the revenue lost for Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kentucky, etc having to give up a home game against Western Kentucky every year.

Playoff games would pay A LOT more than Mercer games.

 

[cclxxxvdicere]

Again, re-read my post. I admitted it wouldn’t happen. I think you jumped into the middle of a discussion without reading the post.

Everything I said about eliminating one regular season game in that post was predicated in having a 24 team playoff. I would guarantee that giving 5-6 of top teams in the SEC the potential of an extra 2-4 playoff games would more than make up the revenue lost for Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kentucky, etc having to give up a home game against Western Kentucky every year.

Playoff games would pay A LOT more than Mercer games.

If the first step of your playoff proposal involves flying pigs, then it’s not a serious proposal. revenue generated by the extra playoff games wouldn’t make up for the revenue lost by the schools that had to give up a regular season home game. If 4 or 5 schools from the SEC got in, then 9 or 10 would not, and any extra revenue brought in couldn't cover the $150-200M they’d give up by dropping a home game.

If 4 or 5 teams from any conference could make the playoff, that just shows that it’s a bloated monstrosity that includes teams that have no business playing for the title. 3 and 4 loss teams don’t belong, they have no chance of winning and weeding them out is what the regular season and conference championship games are for. If we want the regular season and conference championships to mean anything, then they have to mean something.

 

[Diego Roll Tide]

If the first step of your playoff proposal involves flying pigs, then it’s not a serious proposal. revenue generated by the extra playoff games wouldn’t make up for the revenue lost by the schools that had to give up a regular season home game. If 4 or 5 schools from the SEC got in, then 9 or 10 would not, and any extra revenue brought in couldn't cover the $150-200M they’d give up by dropping a home game.

If 4 or 5 teams from any conference could make the playoff, that just shows that it’s a bloated monstrosity that includes teams that have no business playing for the title. 3 and 4 loss teams don’t belong, they have no chance of winning and weeding them out is what the regular season and conference championship games are for. If we want the regular season and conference championships to mean anything, then they have to mean something.

24 is WAY too many. You have to balance the value of the regular season with inclusion of worthy teams. I can see arguments for as many as 12, but even then you would have several with no shot at winning it all. Only a select few teams have the talent, depth, and coaching to beat 2-3 top 4-8 teams.

 

[belcherboy]

If the first step of your playoff proposal involves flying pigs, then it’s not a serious proposal. revenue generated by the extra playoff games wouldn’t make up for the revenue lost by the schools that had to give up a regular season home game. If 4 or 5 schools from the SEC got in, then 9 or 10 would not, and any extra revenue brought in couldn't cover the $150-200M they’d give up by dropping a home game.

If 4 or 5 teams from any conference could make the playoff, that just shows that it’s a bloated monstrosity that includes teams that have no business playing for the title. 3 and 4 loss teams don’t belong, they have no chance of winning and weeding them out is what the regular season and conference championship games are for. If we want the regular season and conference championships to mean anything, then they have to mean something.

Ok. Just thought I would float an idea that didn't include the typical 6, 12, 16 playoff team ideas. Sorry about that.

 

[BamaDude]

Ok. Just thought I would float an idea that didn't include the typical 6, 12, 16 playoff team ideas. Sorry about that.

That idea didn't float. It sank straight to the bottom.

 

[PhilSimms11]

12-team plan moves ahead to next phase. I get the feeling we're all semi excited.

 

[PhilSimms11]

After months of lengthy debates and multiple meetings about expansion, the College Football Playoff will remain at four teams through the end of its current 12-year contract, which expires following the 2025 season, CFP executive director Bill Hancock announced Friday.

By choosing to remain at four teams for four more years, the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame have forfeited roughly $450 million in potential revenue.

"I've always said the money was secondary and this proves it," American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco said. "Obviously we're forgoing that. We all know it. It's something you would have liked to have had because you can use a lot of that for student-athlete health and well-being and the other things, but the feeling was that the most important thing was getting a format that everybody could agree on."

On Wednesday afternoon, the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick held a critical videoconference in which they determined they could not come to a unanimous agreement on the proposed 12-team format that was made public June 10. They made a recommendation to the CFP's board of managers, which is composed of 11 presidents and chancellors who have the ultimate authority over the playoff, to stay with the four-team field through the duration of the current contract.

The CFP's board of managers held a videoconference Thursday and approved the recommendation.

"I understand this is complex, and I recognize the conferences' positions," Hancock told ESPN in a brief phone interview from China, where he is a volunteer for the Olympics. "I've been around long enough to know that setbacks are sometimes temporary."

Hancock said he still believes an expanded field is possible in the next contract.

"I know because I've heard the management committee and the board talk about it that they would all like to see the CFP expand, but for Years 11 and 12 there were just several things that stood in the way," he said. "Not just one thing, but several."

In order for the playoff to expand before the current contract expires, the 10 FBS commissioners and Swarbrick would have had to unanimously agree to the expansion. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips stated publicly in mid-January that his conference was united in its stance that "this is not the right time for expansion." He said the sport first needs to consider the impacts of name, image and likeness rules, the transfer portal and an NCAA governance structure that is undergoing a major overhaul....

Read more on espn.com...

 

[Gator]

That's a snippet of the article. I'm guessing within a short period of time expansion will be a real possibility. Now, how they go about determining the 8, 10, 12, 16 teams is a whole other subject. I've been in favor of an 8-team P-5 and an 8-team G-5 playoff for quite some time now.

So you want to split P5 away from G5? I'm OK with that but many/most would be against it.

I am NOT in favor of any auto bids. IMHO, that would be anti-competitive. Why risk injury and loss to play outside your conference? Just win your conference and you're in. It also leads to teams getting in that shouldn't, like when 7-4 Texas beat 10-1 Nebraska to win the inaugural Big 12 Championship game. A 7-4 team doesn't belong in any playoff. Every team and every conference should have to "earn" their way into the playoff. The regular season should serve the purpose of "culling the herd" and I don't just mean sorting out the pecking order IN each conference. The regular season should help to sort out conferences from each other. That can only be done with direct conference vs conference games involving teams of approximate quality. This is a step that the conferences themselves MUST take. IF your team is "good" then they should be playing other "good" teams. There needs to be MORE quality OOC games!

 

[Gator]

By choosing to remain at four teams for four more years, the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame have forfeited roughly $450 million in potential revenue.

"I've always said the money was secondary and this proves it," American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco said. "Obviously we're forgoing that. We all know it. It's something you would have liked to have had because you can use a lot of that for student-athlete health and well-being and the other things, but the feeling was that the most important thing was getting a format that everybody could agree on."

No, it IS about money and your statement proves it. You see an expanded playoff as a way for the AAC to get a cut of the $450M (the 10 FBS conferences plus ND). Without an expanded playoff the P5's will get all of the $450M increase when the new contract is signed.

 

[Kaplony]

No, it IS about money and your statement proves it. You see an expanded playoff as a way for the AAC to get a cut of the $450M (the 10 FBS conferences plus ND). Without an expanded playoff the P5's will get all of the $450M increase when the new contract is signed.

No, it will be more than $450M because by ensuring that any expansion doesn't take place before the current contract ends the media contract will be open to all bidders instead of being locked in to ESPN.