It is All About the Money

Show Me the Money

            Hard core fans have had the opportunity to watch college football this season until we are numb. I wanted to watch all of the bowl games, but my wife threatened to pull the plug on the TV and make me sleep on the couch. Some of our wives have taken the kids and gone home to their mothers, but we may not be aware of their absence until the last game is over. Or until we run out of snacks.

            There are forty-seven bowl games this year! The bowl season began on December 14 with the Cricket Bowl and runs through January 20 with the College Football National Championship Game. The remaining forty-five games include the infamous Pop-Tart Bowl, the Cheese-It Bowl, the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, and closer to home, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. My old alma mater played in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. I had to look that one up. Radiance Technologies is a think tank that deals in military research and development. You may have noticed that all bowl games now have sponsors attached to their names. I have no idea what it costs Tony the Tiger to have his name on the Sun Bowl nor do I know who actually pays the advertising fee for the Taxpayer Gator Bowl. Think about it. I hope it isn’t what it sounds like. It must, however, be a significant source of income for the bowl organizers. Why else would anyone name their post-season game the Wasabi Bowl?

            Back in the last century when I played, there were only four bowl games: the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and the grandaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. You had to have a very good team to be invited to a bowl game. We were never quite that good, but we admired those who made it. Forty-seven bowl games means ninety-four teams made it to this post season. Eligibility is granted to all teams with an average or better record. In other words, a team must win at least as many games as they lose. I wonder how much each team gets? I would assume the teams playing in the Allstate Sugar Bowl received more than those who played in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl. All bowls must be financially attractive enough to load up fifty players, coaches, cheerleaders, and equipment then fly them halfway across the country; not to mention the cost of food and lodging for the whole entourage.

            My ole team actually had a very good season this year and was scheduled to play against Marshall on December 28. It would have been an even match, both teams having won 10 regular season games; but Marshall’s coach and virtually the entire team opted to enter the transfer portal causing the bowl’s organizers to scramble to find a replacement. Louisiana Tech, with a record of 5-7, jumped at the chance. The money was just too much to pass up.

            It seems almost everything in college football is about the money. When I played, we were not allowed to receive any compensation except our academic scholarships. Now players are paid spokesmen for local and national products just like the pros. There was no transfer portal. Our binding agreements were for four years. Televised games had no two-minute time outs to run additional ads. Don’t get me wrong. I love football and would play today if I were able, but money has usurped the soul of the game. Forty-seven bowl games is ridiculous.

Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and long-time resident of Eastern Washington. He has been a free-lance columnist for over 20 years.