Bowl Game and FCS Playoff TV Ratings

[CAA Flagship]

Copied from the ODU message board as posted by ODUalum78:

[bluehenbillk]

If that doesn't cry for moving to FBS.......

[CatBlitz22]

If that doesn't cry for moving to FBS.......

So you can lose 9 games a year and lose more money? Great. At least people will watch you in a bowl game. Oh wait...

[AZGrizFan]

That's what happens when there's no Montana and no ASU deep in the playoffs.

[kalm]

If that doesn't cry for moving to FBS.......

So you can lose 9 games a year and lose more money? Great. At least people will watch you in a bowl game. Oh wait...

Yeah...this.

[danefan]

Look at the channels broadcast on......

The only ESPN2 game that had a higher rating was on New Year's day at noon when people had nothing else to do.

[AZGrizFan]

SHSU/EWU should be embarrassed. More people watched the D-II game.

[mlbowl]

SHSU/EWU should be embarrassed. More people watched the D-II game.

Well, in their defense, it was shown on ESPNU ESPNU isn't even offered by my cable company.

[AZGrizFan]

SHSU/EWU should be embarrassed. More people watched the D-II game.

Well, in their defense, it was shown on ESPNU ESPNU isn't even offered by my cable company.

950,000 people found it to watch Ok St vs Purdue...

[mlbowl]

Well, in their defense, it was shown on ESPNU ESPNU isn't even offered by my cable company.

950,000 people found it to watch Ok St vs Purdue...

That's my point...Only 950k watched Ok St vs. Purdue because it was on ESPNU. Had it been on ESPN or ESPN2, I think that number would be quite a bit higher.

[AZGrizFan]

950,000 people found it to watch Ok St vs Purdue...

That's my point...Only 950k watched Ok St vs. Purdue because it was on ESPNU. Had it been on ESPN or ESPN2, I think that number would be quite a bit higher.

The only way to get the number higher would be to put Montana in the game.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

ESPN also promotes FCS like it's promoting the clap...

They bury it and even the halftime of the NC had NO analysis... jut coverage of the BCS and the Drunken Redneck Bowl (or whatever they put on ESPN)

[SDHornet]

What’s missing is the column showing how much money each school lost in said bowl game. My guess is from the Alamo Bowl on down every participating bowl school took a loss.

Also a column for attendance would be nice to see as well. Not only did SJSU take a nice bath on their Military Bowl appearance, but only 17k showed up…but hey 1.9M people tuned in.

[JohnStOnge]

If that doesn't cry for moving to FBS.......

So you can lose 9 games a year and lose more money? Great. At least people will watch you in a bowl game. Oh wait...

Yes. Why more people would watch something like the New Orleans Bowl than the FCS championship game does puzzle me. But the overwhelming likelihood is that the school is going to lose more money as a FBS than it did as a FCS. And I just wonder how many people even remember six months later who was in some of those bowls anyway without having to look it up. Not saying that anybody remembers who won the FCS national championship either. Just saying I don't think, say, Louisiana Lafayette made a lasting impression or gained that much by playing in and winning the New Orleans Bowl.

Like if someone just listed out the names of the Bowls from last year for you and asked you which teams played in each, how many do you think you could name?

If what you want is to have your school's football team get more television exposure there is absolutely no doubt that you get more television exposure in FBS. During the regular season as well as during post season. But then, if the school loses more money as a result of being in FBS, how much does that really gain you?

[JohnStOnge]

ESPN also promotes FCS like it's promoting the clap...

They bury it and even the halftime of the NC had NO analysis... jut coverage of the BCS and the Drunken Redneck Bowl (or whatever they put on ESPN)

Yes and they put the national championship game on at the exact same time as they put on what, going in, was probably a more attractive than average bowl matchup between Ole Miss and PIttsburgh. Not that Ole Miss and Pittsburgh was ultra attractive. But when you're comparing it to matchups like Arkansas State vs. Kent State, Louisiana Monroe vs. Ohio, etc., I think it was more attractive than average.

Frankly it's a disappointment that they'd have any bowl game on ESPN at the same time as they're having the FCS championship on ESPN2. That sucked.

[JohnStOnge]

As I kind of hinted why anybody watched most of those bowl games is a mystery to me. I honestly don't get it. I'd much rather watch the Division III championship game than crap like most of the bowl games were. And that's how it is every year now with the overload of bowl games.

I mean, I can't deny it. It is what it is. But I sure as heck don't understand it. I spent a lot more TV time watching Florida, Michigan, and Texas High School football playoff games and championship games than I did watching bowl games and to me games like that are a heck of a lot more entertaining because of what's on the line for the coaches and players involved. To me when I ran out of high school, D-III, D-II, and FCS playoff games to watch for a while and all there was were those crappy bowl games it was "GROAN."

Now there were a few bowl games that were interesting. When you started to get to the point where some of the better teams from BCS leagues were playing each other like Nebraska and Georgia, Michigan and South Carolina, LSU and Clemson, Texas A&M and Oklahoma, etc.

But some of those bowl games that are rated higher than the lower Division playoffs, I just don't know. I mean, I'd rather watch the Lawrence Welk show than some of those.

[JohnStOnge]

You know one thing I just noticed is that there's an association such that the bowl games tended to be on ESPN while the lower division playoff games tended to be on ESPN2 or ESPNU. There's a little bit of a chicken or egg question involved. To what extent does that show that ESPN made the right decision in putting bowl games on ESPN while putting lower division playoff games on ESPN2 and ESPNU and to what extent does it suggest that lower division playoff games had lower ratings because they were put on ESPN2 and ESPNU?

[polsongrizz]

So you can lose 9 games a year and lose more money? Great. At least people will watch you in a bowl game. Oh wait...

Yes. Why more people would watch something like the New Orleans Bowl than the FCS championship game does puzzle me?

It doesn't puzzle me at all. The FCS game was on at 10am on the West Coast. Not only that the game didn't even start on time because of some bull BB Game that was on.

[bluehenbillk]

What exactly WOULD merit ESPN to show the FCS Championship Game versus putting it on the Deuce or the U.

Put yourself in that boardroom meeting & state your case......

[89Hen]

Long live ECB. A quarterfinal game between two eastern teams outdraws the NC game featuring two western teams.

[clenz]

What’s missing is the column showing how much money each school lost in said bowl game. My guess is from the Alamo Bowl on down every participating bowl school took a loss.

Also a column for attendance would be nice to see as well. Not only did SJSU take a nice bath on their Military Bowl appearance, but only 17k showed up…but hey 1.9M people tuned in.

what seems to elude fcs fans is that pretty much every fcs team loses money on the playoffs..and opposed to a handful of teams making money with football only a handful of fbs teams lose money.


Look at playoffs attendance anywhere except ndsu, montana, and maybe asu and msu...


Your argument is all emotion and no fact


Sent from the nexus of the universe

[kalm]

What exactly WOULD merit ESPN to show the FCS Championship Game versus putting it on the Deuce or the U.

Put yourself in that boardroom meeting & state your case......

You're the "world wide leader in sports" and it's the Div. I championship game. But before we go further down that track I want to see all of the ratings for everything aired on the flagship.

[93henfan]

That's what happens when there's no Montana and no ASU deep in the playoffs.

Actually, if you look at the highest rated FCS game on the list, it's the one with ODU, which was probably (and I'm guessing by far) the largest TV market among FCS playoff teams.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

What exactly WOULD merit ESPN to show the FCS Championship Game versus putting it on the Deuce or the U.

Put yourself in that boardroom meeting & state your case......

This is classic ESPN programming logic at work - only put any promotion or effort in to the programming you spent billions on to acquire the rights to. It's chicken and egg to be sure - but what it boils down to is the shit you promote gets better ratings. Did you hear more than a few moments hype on SportsCenter or ESPN radio or as bumpers during other programming? No, you didn't. Because ESPN paid next to nothing for the rights, they don't give a damn about it being too terribly successful.

If you gave an up and coming creative type at ESPN a couple of years and access to the house organ for promotion, I'm betting you could build the FCS playoffs in to a respectable niche brand with a decent following. I mean hell, they turned fucking poker in to a success with that damn formula.

[bluehenbillk]

What exactly WOULD merit ESPN to show the FCS Championship Game versus putting it on the Deuce or the U.

Put yourself in that boardroom meeting & state your case......

You're the "world wide leader in sports" and it's the Div. I championship game. But before we go further down that track I want to see all of the ratings for everything aired on the flagship.

Well it's "labeled" the Division 1 championship game, but every football fan in America knows its not. With the imminent separation coming between the haves & have-nots in FBS the more appropriate label will soon be Division 3.