Championship game prices down 90 percent from last year

[Hornius Emeritus 12,332]

Is college football in trouble?

https://sports.yahoo.com/title-game-ticket-prices-plummeting-90-percent-college-football-worried-214530894.html

[TheFlagship 432]

Two words. Santa. Clara.

[Thermos H. Christ 478]

No, CFB is still making money hand over fist. People are just bored by the prospect of the preseason #1 and #2 playing in the Inevitabowl. There’s nobody to root for, no outcome that sounds exciting. 

[ClubWhatever 12,066]

Not watching.  Weekday, too late, don't care.

[aggie08 20,211]

21 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

Is college football in trouble?

That depends. Do you live anywhere north of the Mason Dixon line or west of Texas?

[Huckleberry 32,142]

10 minutes ago, Thermos H. Christ said:

No, CFB is still making money hand over fist. People are just bored by the prospect of the preseason #1 and #2 playing in the Inevitabowl. There’s nobody to root for, no outcome that sounds exciting. 

I like that term, but it's not just that it's the #1 and #2 playing in the Inevitabowl. It's that it's the same teams it's been for the last 4 years and they're in Santa Clara.

If Texas and USC were squaring off for the 4th straight time in January 2009 in Charlotte, NC the same issue would have played out.

[DigglerontheHoof 20,449]

No, these two programs have been living there the last few years; their respective fan bases are tapped out.  Trips to bowl games aren't cheap and the "newness" and "awe" have worn off. 

Now, of course, they want their teams there but they can't afford to go see them or won't/don't make it a priority. 

Edited January 3, 2019 by DigglerontheHoof

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,780]

Bama and clemson flying across the country a week after the orange and cotton bowls vs georgia and bama driving a few hours to Atlanta?

Quite a few more dollars to be spent considering the demand and money saved from air travel and lodging

[PilotsError 2,234]

That article points out one thing that continues to be embarrassing: having other bowls on the day of, and after the first round of the playoffs.  Complete amateur hour.  EVERY bowl should be finished before the playoffs start.  Fuck tradition. 

[Cheeseweasel 26,437]

Someone needs to explain to me why this game can't be played on a Saturday night.

[Huckleberry 32,142]

NFL playoffs is probably the reason they don't do that. They want the whole day of sports focus to be about the national championship game. That part actually makes sense.

[Cheeseweasel 26,437]

4 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

NFL playoffs is probably the reason they don't do that. They want the whole day of sports focus to be about the national championship game. That part actually makes sense.

Then play it on Friday night. I'M OLD I NEED MY REST

[Wally Fairway 5,465]

3 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Someone needs to explain to me why this game can't be played on a Saturday night.

BINGO - All year Saturday is college football, and the best games are played prime time Saturday night. This game should kick at 8:05 pm January 5, 2019.

Is CFB too afraid of the NFL first round playoffs, because I'm thinking that the NFL could live with a noon kick and a 4pm kick and free up the evening (sorry 'boys fans).

It also doesn't help that the game is being played not in a college football hotbed; pick a city that embraces college ball - Dallas (Cotton bowl, Jerry's world), LA (Rose Bowl, etc), Phoenix, Miami, New Orleans. Sure it's a nice stadium, but that doesn't make it a college football destiny.

[Richard Kimball 1,491]

1 minute ago, Huckleberry said:

NFL playoffs is probably the reason they don't do that. They want the whole day of sports focus to be about the national championship game. That part actually makes sense.

True. But avoiding bowl games and the NFL has put them in a position of scheduling on a Monday night after the holidays are over. I've gotta be at work Tuesday morning, as do most people. Outside of Alabama and Clemson, nobody gives a shit who wins. As far as I was concerned, college football was over four hours after Bevo tried to gore UGA. 

[Machinator 32,097]

4 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Then play it on Friday night. I'M OLD I NEED MY REST

That's probably the worst night of the week for TV ratings.

[Huckleberry 32,142]

Meh, the greatest game of all time was on a Wednesday night. Not that big a deal to me. The point above about splitting the playoffs up with other bowl games in between makes more sense to me. 

[Richard Kimball 1,491]

1 minute ago, Wally Fairway said:

BINGO - All year Saturday is college football, and the best games are played prime time Saturday night. This game should kick at 8:05 pm January 5, 2019.

Is CFB too afraid of the NFL first round playoffs, because I'm thinking that the NFL could live with a noon kick and a 4pm kick and free up the evening (sorry 'boys fans).

It also doesn't help that the game is being played not in a college football hotbed; pick a city that embraces college ball - Dallas (Cotton bowl, Jerry's world), LA (Rose Bowl, etc), Phoenix, Miami, New Orleans. Sure it's a nice stadium, but that doesn't make it a college football destiny.

I'd betcha the networks would shit a brick if they tried to schedule against the NFL. It would split advertising dollars. 

[Cheeseweasel 26,437]

And while we are on the topic, why does it take 4 fucking hours to play a damn game? 

I get sick of (play) (injury-go to 4 commercials) (play) (change of possession- got to 6 commercials) etc.

[Js1 82,355]

33 minutes ago, TheFlagship said:

Two words. Santa. Clara.

Bingo.

Thousand dollar flights and hotel rooms for this game?

On the other side of the country from both fanbases?

Terrible location.

[Wally Fairway 5,465]

1 minute ago, Huckleberry said:

Meh, the greatest game of all time was on a Wednesday night. Not that big a deal to me. The point above about splitting the playoffs up with other bowl games in between makes more sense to me. 

Was it a January 1? (Wednesday night) - because college football used to own that day; until the ceded it to the NFL even that date to the NFL if it's a Sunday.
Or is there some MAC game that is the greatest game of all time that I'm unaware of???
 

[JimmyHoffa 1,188]

2 minutes ago, Richard Kimball said:

True. But avoiding bowl games and the NFL has put them in a position of scheduling on a Monday night after the holidays are over. I've gotta be at work Tuesday morning, as do most people. Outside of Alabama and Clemson, nobody gives a shit who wins. As far as I was concerned, college football was over four hours after Bevo tried to gore UGA. 

 

Psst- Don't tell anyone but the NCAA Men's basketball championship is also on a Monday.............

 

Monday is fine. Santa Clara was an awful choice for the championship for a number of reasons. Makes total sense that tickets are cheap and there will probably be some open seats. 

[Huckleberry 32,142]

3 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

And while we are on the topic, why does it take 4 fucking hours to play a damn game? 

I get sick of (play) (injury-go to 4 commercials) (play) (change of possession- got to 6 commercials) etc.

This I can agree with. College games are going to take longer than pro games and I'm absolutely fine with that. But 3:30 should be the target. The worst to me is the score, commercial, kickoff, commercial, next series with a commercial if anything happens like a minor injury or timeout.

There should be a rule saying that there can be only one media timeout either after a score or after the ensuing kickoff. Not both.

1 minute ago, Wally Fairway said:

Was it a January 1? (Wednesday night) - because college football used to own that day; until the ceded it to the NFL even that date to the NFL if it's a Sunday.
Or is there some MAC game that is the greatest game of all time that I'm unaware of???
 

January 4, 2006

Know your audience, man. Ha.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Huckleberry

[Wally Fairway 5,465]

2 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

And while we are on the topic, why does it take 4 fucking hours to play a damn game? 

I get sick of (play) (injury-go to 4 commercials) (play) (change of possession- got to 6 commercials) etc.

you forgot  - the previous play is under review, time out, Bama commercial, 3 & out, punt, TV timeout, Clemson commercial, 2 plays, 3rd play challenge if that was a catch, commercial .... 22 minutes later you've seen 2 series, 12 commercials, 2 reviews, 6 plays and 2 punts

[Chuckie Finster 22,252]

Common sense says that rotating Championship games across the country only works if the playoff is comprised of geographically diverse teams as well.

What did they expect when it became apparent by October that nobody west of Norman, Oklahoma even had a shot at playing here?

[Js1 82,355]

9 minutes ago, Richard Kimball said:

True. But avoiding bowl games and the NFL has put them in a position of scheduling on a Monday night after the holidays are over. I've gotta be at work Tuesday morning, as do most people. Outside of Alabama and Clemson, nobody gives a shit who wins. As far as I was concerned, college football was over four hours after Bevo tried to gore UGA. 

I don't get this at all.

The Sugar Bowl was January 1 (Tuesday night) and ended almost 11pm CT.  Did anyone complain about that? Not everyone had off Wednesday.

As for the bolded part, they've played 2 epic championship games already.  Highly entertaining.  People will watch.

As for the italicized part, you're such a liar.  No one who cares about college football stopped watching.  You'll have nothing else until the Spring Game, which barely counts as football, until August.  People will watch.

[Cheeseweasel 26,437]

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I don't get this at all.

The Sugar Bowl was January 1 (Tuesday night) and ended almost 11pm CT.  Did anyone complain about that? Not everyone had off Wednesday.

As for the bolded part, they've played 2 epic championship games already.  Highly entertaining.  People will watch.

As for the italicized part, you're such a liar.  No one who cares about college football stopped watching.  You'll have nothing else until the Spring Game, which barely counts as football, until August.  People will watch.

I'm complaining now. IM TIRED MAN.

[UTEX_ME 4,724]

Imagine how much money Bama fans have spent the past 10 years. Clemson fans the last 4-5.. Flying 2000 miles and staying at high priced bay area hotels after just playing the week before probably is just too much. Also there is A LOT less local support for the sport than previous NCG locations such as Arlington, New Orleans, Atlanta etc. Perfect storm for what is happening. 

[Huckleberry 32,142]

3 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I don't get this at all.

The Sugar Bowl was January 1 (Tuesday night) and ended almost 11pm CT.  Did anyone complain about that? Not everyone had off Wednesday.

As for the bolded part, they've played 2 epic championship games already.  Highly entertaining.  People will watch.

As for the italicized part, you're such a liar.  No one who cares about college football stopped watching.  You'll have nothing else until the Spring Game, which barely counts as football, until August.  People will watch.

I don't know, the semifinal TV numbers were pretty bad compared to the previous ones. The only year that was close to as low was the year they were idiots and had the games on New Year's Eve. You remember, it's when everyone in the world except the CFP administrators was vocal about how terrible an idea it was to have them on New Year's Eve.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Huckleberry

[Wally Fairway 5,465]

5 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

January 4, 2006

Know your audience, man. Ha.

Yeah I know what game you are talking about, but that wasn't played 7 days after prior college game of the year. Different times, NCAA gave away January 1 that year,  played the Cotton, Fiesta, Rose,Outback, Gator & Cap One on 1/2, Orange on 1/3 and Greatest Game ever on 1/4.
I know that expanding from a 2 team "playoff" complicated things, but playing on a Monday night is not a great idea. Not that Bama or Clemson fans really care.

And to the point someone else made - March Madness caps off on a Monday, because the Saturday night double header is the biggest day of the year and they don't want to play the championship game on 0 days rest.

[Bottlecap 1,515]

I wish sports overall would stop trying to make Santa Clara happen. The stadium itself is fine, i guess (I mean I wouldn't have built it all lopsided and awkward like that), but apart from that, its way the fuck outta town and in the shittiest time zone for Bay-ers to reasonably get to the stadium and fill it up. They put a world cup qualifier (or maybe it was a gold cup match) out there, and a few other things recently that I can't remember, and it looked like shit with a 30% filled stadium.

[SwanderedTalent 5,761]

If I'm not watching, they're losing people. And I'm not watching, because the sport feels like it's being closed off to a huge chunk of the P5.

[Machinator 32,097]

[TheFlagship 432]

They should do the semifinals the first Saturday of bowl season and then have the championship be on New Years Day. College football shouldn’t last until mid January

[DigglerontheHoof 20,449]

30 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Someone needs to explain to me why this game can't be played on a Saturday night.

HUTS/PUTS, pure and simple.  There are more butts on couches on Monday nights, as opposed to Saturday nights.  Higher HUTS/PUTS, higher ratings, higher ad rates 

[IDIOTsavant 8,418]

7 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I don't get this at all.

The Sugar Bowl was January 1 (Tuesday night) and ended almost 11pm CT.  Did anyone complain about that? Not everyone had off Wednesday.

As for the bolded part, they've played 2 epic championship games already.  Highly entertaining.  People will watch.

As for the italicized part, you're such a liar.  No one who cares about college football stopped watching.  You'll have nothing else until the Spring Game, which barely counts as football, until August.  People will watch.

On this board or in Georgia? No. Ask fans of other schools if they liked the late start midweek for the Sugar Bowl. Better yet, how many people were watching the beginning of the game versus the end? People emotionally invested in the game will watch without issue, but good luck keeping the casual fan for the whole thing. I'm a diehard (as are a large portion of this board), so I'll watch it...but I'll be pissed I stayed up come 5:45 a.m. the next day.

[Wally Fairway 5,465]

 

3 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

If I'm not watching, they're losing people. And I'm not watching, because the sport feels like it's being closed off to a huge chunk of the P5.

Yup - for me I'm waiting for sports to start up again in March - with the NCAA tournament, followed by The Masters.
Part of that is working in the world of accounting and year-end, and part of it is having become a non-fan of regular season games (except CFB) so I'm waiting for the playoffs.

[Js1 82,355]

7 minutes ago, Bottlecap said:

I wish sports overall would stop trying to make Santa Clara happen.

This. 1,000 times this.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

56 minutes ago, TheFlagship said:

Two words. Santa. Clara.

Came here to say this.  CFP in its wisdom chose this spot specifically because it has little interest in college football- in order to “broaden the base.”

Just dumb.  

[MrPhlegm 3,413]

Santa's last name is Clara? WTF?

Shouldn't he be on vacation?

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

26 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

And while we are on the topic, why does it take 4 fucking hours to play a damn game? 

I get sick of (play) (injury-go to 4 commercials) (play) (change of possession- got to 6 commercials) etc.

I am curious if you are younger than me (48).  I hate the NFL product for a lot of reasons, but the primary one is the rushed, helter-skelter, flowless play.  There’s no tension or drama that isn’t resolved in 3-4 minutes.  It just feels like football for the ADHD set. In contrast, college football gives you long stretches of “momentum shifts” and melodrama.  

But all the 35 and below folks I work with whine constantly about how slow and plodding college football is and how much better the NFL style is. 

 

 

[BrazilHorn 6,552]

1 hour ago, TheFlagship said:

Two words. Santa. Clara.

This. Cross country airfare is costly. 

Game needs to just be in NOLA.

Also San Fran is highly expensive hotel city to start with. It’s also not a party town. 

Just a pure money grab choice by organizers that makes zero logistical choice for college football. 

[Jimbaround 971]

https://blog.ticketiq.com/blog/2019-college-football-playoff-tickets-prices-schedule

Interesting graphs here.  This game is the farthest average distance for both teams in the last nine years (2,428 miles) compared to last year with the shortest (136 miles).  Consequently, last year's game had the most expensive "cheapest tickets" in the last nine years.

[Huckleberry 32,142]

Yep, huge difference from last year to this year is obviously that last year the entire "go to the NC game" budget for the two schools could be spent on tickets. This year there are extra days off of work and travel costs that have to be considered.

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 12,928]

22 minutes ago, MrPhlegm said:

Santa's last name is Clara? WTF?

Shouldn't he be on vacation?

It’s an alternate name to protect his identity during the offseason you idiot.

[ApocalypseTexas 297]

College football is the most messed up sport in the history of all sports.  Did anyone watch the bowl games with half empty stadiums?   Half empty stadiums are not new its been going on for years yet they keep coming up with new bowls for 6-5 teams that few people care to watch.  Its an easy fix and in the long run will bring in big bucks but college football is not willing to take a chance.

ESPN dominates college football and this is not good.  Do you think it's just coincidence the SEC had a team in every New Years Day Bowl game with the exception of the Rose Bowl?  Every game is on ESPN and the SEC viewership is the greatest market for college football. 

Next year I guarantee will be lower attendance with more high profile players sitting out in useless bowl games.  

How to fix it:

Create a real playoff system. 

The fact that NCAA division 1 football has no real playoff system is beyond stupid.  8 teams, 16 teams it don't make a shit but create a real playoff system that rewards teams that win conference titles and stop this bullshit about this team looks better than this other team.  Win a conference title you are in no matter what.   Perhaps award a few at large bids to satisfy those that think they are smarter than the results on the field have proven. 

Those teams that do not make the playoffs turn your pads in and hit the recruiting trail.

All in all college football is a simple fix but because of Bowl partnership and ESPN we as fans will not be able enjoy a true playoff or champion. 

Can you image the shit storm created had Georgia beat Alabama in the conference bowl and somehow an undefeated ND gets iced out of the playoffs.  It's one thing for UCF to get iced out it would be another for it to happen to ND. 

[Henry Hill 3,156]

StubHub isn’t even showing the best value ticket option for the game. Yikes.

[Rusty Shackelford 414]

1 hour ago, JimmyHoffa said:

 

Psst- Don't tell anyone but the NCAA Men's basketball championship is also on a Monday.............

 

 

Did you see how cheap those tickets were last year?  The re-sellers were selling well below face value.

[El Hornarino 367]

Put the championship game in the higher ranked team's stadium.

But I couldn't care less who wins between Alabama and Clemson.  Season ended New Year's Day as far as I am concerned.

[texifornia 55,993]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Bingo.

Thousand dollar flights and hotel rooms for this game?

On the other side of the country from both fanbases?

Terrible location.

All that, and it's not even in a fun location in its region. It's a hike from San Francisco and not even all that easy from the minor attractions of San Jose.

[PencilPusher 454]

1 hour ago, Machinator said:

Not surprising the ratings are like this - Sugar/Rose on New Years Day - good ratings. Other Bowls not on New Years Day - not as good. That will likely not change so either the CFP has to strong arm the Rose/Sugar games into moving (fat chance) or just deal with it.

1 hour ago, Bottlecap said:

I wish sports overall would stop trying to make Santa Clara happen. 

Below average stadium in a shitty location. Ask folks that went to Super Bowl L what they generally thought of the experience (The NFL took an "L" on that one). The bar was set so incredibly low for Houston the next year that Houston could have only done an average Super Bowl and still been significantly better. (As it was, Houston knocked it out of the park on LI). I was shocked when they announced it for Santa Clara and my guess is, it won't return. LA and PHX should be the only West host cities and given where college football is stronger, these should likely be the majority host cities for this game: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, Tampa. Travel needs to be a big consideration for this if they want ticket sales.