(12-19-2017 12:07 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 11:07 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 09:02 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Bottom line - bowl games are funded primarily by television, not ticket sales. Given this, it makes sense to play more games in smaller venues closer to where one or both of the participating schools are located, which should reduce the cost of traveling to the game for teams and fans.

Except that part of the appeal is getting away from the cold weather to somewhere warm and sunny.

As an Orange fan, you should be familiar with what upstate New York is like in the winter. Going to Boston or New York City or Philadelphia or Detroit or Chicago doesn't help that in the same way that going to Miami or Myrtle Beach or Memphis or Mobile, AL or Phoenix does.

How many fans are going to spend over $1000 to see their 6-6 team in a bowl game 2000 or 3000 miles away? No matter how much the bowl guys in bright blazers try to talk up games like that, it's nothing like (for example) Georgia fans deciding to make the trip to Pasadena; that's a unique opportunity for them to see their team in the Rose Bowl. The weather might be just as nice for the hundreds who sat in the stands at the Cure Bowl, but if you're spending significant money it's got to be about more than the temperature at game time.

Honestly, i was shocked at the awful Cure Bowl attendance. Fans living in Kentucky and Georgia didn't want to drive down to Orlando, where they can soak up beautiful weather and go to Disney Land, to see their team play? And still be home for Christmas?

That's crazy to me.

(12-19-2017 10:27 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 09:11 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 12:50 AM)johnintx Wrote:  * And yes, some of these bowls could be played on a movie lot or sound stage. When attendance is secondary to TV programming, some creative things can be done. Hence, events like the Bahamas Bowl. Who wouldn't want to go to the Bahamas? It doesn't matter if they don't fill a small soccer stadium in another country. The players get a great trip, ESPN gets to fill programming time, and the Bahamas gets to promote itself as a destination. I think more Caribbean islands with resorts/hotels should use their soccer stadiums for small bowl games. It's a great idea.

Nearly every time i hear about the Bahamas Bowl i think of the 2014 video where the Central Michigan players learn their bowl fate:

http://www.bahamasbowl.com/central-michi...-bowl-bid/

I think if I was from Michigan, and my choice was between Detroit and the Bahamas, I believe I would react the same way.

You are NOT going to the Detroit Bowl !!! LOL.

(12-19-2017 12:42 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 12:07 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 11:07 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 09:02 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Bottom line - bowl games are funded primarily by television, not ticket sales. Given this, it makes sense to play more games in smaller venues closer to where one or both of the participating schools are located, which should reduce the cost of traveling to the game for teams and fans.

Except that part of the appeal is getting away from the cold weather to somewhere warm and sunny.

As an Orange fan, you should be familiar with what upstate New York is like in the winter. Going to Boston or New York City or Philadelphia or Detroit or Chicago doesn't help that in the same way that going to Miami or Myrtle Beach or Memphis or Mobile, AL or Phoenix does.

How many fans are going to spend over $1000 to see their 6-6 team in a bowl game 2000 or 3000 miles away? No matter how much the bowl guys in bright blazers try to talk up games like that, it's nothing like (for example) Georgia fans deciding to make the trip to Pasadena; that's a unique opportunity for them to see their team in the Rose Bowl. The weather might be just as nice for the hundreds who sat in the stands at the Cure Bowl, but if you're spending significant money it's got to be about more than the temperature at game time.

Honestly, i was shocked at the awful Cure Bowl attendance. Fans living in Kentucky and Georgia didn't want to drive down to Orlando, where they can soak up beautiful weather and go to Disney Land, to see their team play? And still be home for Christmas?

That's crazy to me.

Can't comment on WKU, but if you have ever seen a picture of a GSU home game you'll understand why they didn't have anyone there.

(12-19-2017 12:07 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 11:07 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 09:02 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Bottom line - bowl games are funded primarily by television, not ticket sales. Given this, it makes sense to play more games in smaller venues closer to where one or both of the participating schools are located, which should reduce the cost of traveling to the game for teams and fans.

Except that part of the appeal is getting away from the cold weather to somewhere warm and sunny.

As an Orange fan, you should be familiar with what upstate New York is like in the winter. Going to Boston or New York City or Philadelphia or Detroit or Chicago doesn't help that in the same way that going to Miami or Myrtle Beach or Memphis or Mobile, AL or Phoenix does.

How many fans are going to spend over $1000 to see their 6-6 team in a bowl game 2000 or 3000 miles away? No matter how much the bowl guys in bright blazers try to talk up games like that, it's nothing like (for example) Georgia fans deciding to make the trip to Pasadena; that's a unique opportunity for them to see their team in the Rose Bowl. The weather might be just as nice for the hundreds who sat in the stands at the Cure Bowl, but if you're spending significant money it's got to be about more than the temperature at game time.

Well, the Cure Bowl, for example, is in Orlando. So you can drive down (18 hours from Syracuse, 2 day drive) or fly, and you're within range of Disney, Universal Studios, Cape Canaveral, LEgoland, etc. Miami or Memphis or New Orleans or Nashville, that's a destination right there that easily passes any WAG test. Tampa, Houston, Charlotte might not be as easy a sell. Mobile is in Alabama, which is going to be a negative for a lot of northern fans, but it's on the ocean (as far as we know) so there's probably a beach involved.

"How many fans are going to spend over $1000 to see their 6-6 team in a bowl game 2000 or 3000 miles away?" Probably more than would spend $500 to see their 6-6 team in a bowl game 200-500 miles away.

(In fairness, this theory is undermined by the failure of the Miami Beach Bowl, and not helped by the performance of the Bahamas Bowl. By this theory, the Bahamas Bowl should be a premium destination bowl because it's in the freakin Bahamas.)

(12-19-2017 12:42 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 12:07 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 11:07 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 09:02 AM)orangefan Wrote:  Bottom line - bowl games are funded primarily by television, not ticket sales. Given this, it makes sense to play more games in smaller venues closer to where one or both of the participating schools are located, which should reduce the cost of traveling to the game for teams and fans.

Except that part of the appeal is getting away from the cold weather to somewhere warm and sunny.

As an Orange fan, you should be familiar with what upstate New York is like in the winter. Going to Boston or New York City or Philadelphia or Detroit or Chicago doesn't help that in the same way that going to Miami or Myrtle Beach or Memphis or Mobile, AL or Phoenix does.

How many fans are going to spend over $1000 to see their 6-6 team in a bowl game 2000 or 3000 miles away? No matter how much the bowl guys in bright blazers try to talk up games like that, it's nothing like (for example) Georgia fans deciding to make the trip to Pasadena; that's a unique opportunity for them to see their team in the Rose Bowl. The weather might be just as nice for the hundreds who sat in the stands at the Cure Bowl, but if you're spending significant money it's got to be about more than the temperature at game time.

Honestly, i was shocked at the awful Cure Bowl attendance. Fans living in Kentucky and Georgia didn't want to drive down to Orlando, where they can soak up beautiful weather and go to Disney Land, to see their team play? And still be home for Christmas?

That's crazy to me.

You assume the existence of sizable numbers of fans. Wasn't there a time USF went to the St Petersburg Bowl, and couldn't fill a stadium across a bridge from campus?

(12-19-2017 02:39 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  By this theory, the Bahamas Bowl should be a premium destination bowl because it's in the freakin Bahamas.)

The pre-Christmas date hurts it. If it were post-Christmas I bet the attendance would be better.

I know the year Clemson played in the Tangerine on the 23rd the only people I know who went are the retired folks because getting vacation time on several weeks notice for a few days before Christmas.

(12-19-2017 03:24 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 02:39 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  By this theory, the Bahamas Bowl should be a premium destination bowl because it's in the freakin Bahamas.)

The pre-Christmas date hurts it. If it were post-Christmas I bet the attendance would be better.

I know the year Clemson played in the Tangerine on the 23rd the only people I know who went are the retired folks because getting vacation time on several weeks notice for a few days before Christmas.

That is always true regarding pre-Christmas games. Some exceptions apply like when ULL is in the New Orleans bowl.

(12-19-2017 04:05 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 03:24 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(12-19-2017 02:39 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  By this theory, the Bahamas Bowl should be a premium destination bowl because it's in the freakin Bahamas.)

The pre-Christmas date hurts it. If it were post-Christmas I bet the attendance would be better.

I know the year Clemson played in the Tangerine on the 23rd the only people I know who went are the retired folks because getting vacation time on several weeks notice for a few days before Christmas.

That is always true regarding pre-Christmas games. Some exceptions apply like when ULL is in the New Orleans bowl.

Just like college football evolved to a TV over fans, the bowls have also gone to this model. One thing I hope is Fox and CBS try to get some of the bowls ESPN does not own for Broadcast purposes. I really prefer to see the games compete against each other and do more post-Christmas. Most of the ESPN owned bowls are G5 and pre-Christmas.

This season Pre-Christmas ESPNBowls
Armed Forces Bowl
Birmingham Bowl
Bahamas Bowl
Boca Raton Bowl
Camellia Bowl
Celebration Bowl
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Frisco Bowl
Gasparilla Bowl
Hawaiʻi Bowl
Heart of Dallas Bowl
Las Vegas Bowl
New Mexico Bowl
Texas Bowl