Bowls May Consider Own Playoff

Bowl game officials live in fear of one word: playoff.

A postseason tournament of any kind would destroy the present bowl structure, executives of the games argue, and reduce the glut of bowl games that have multiplied to the point where teams with 6-5 and 7-4 records earn another $500,000 each by playing once more.

Even though the NCAA decided at its convention in Nashville not to enact a playoff system for Division I-A football--the only sport that does not decide its champion in postseason play--the consensus at the meeting was that a playoff was coming. Because of that, says Orange Bowl Executive Director Steve Hatchell, the bowls should begin thinking about drawing up a playoff plan that would incorporate the existing games.

The bowl structure has worked perfectly the past two seasons. First the Fiesta Bowl and then the Orange Bowl put on games that determined the national championship.

Hatchell, who recently was named chairman of the Bowl Assn., comprised of representatives from each of the 18 NCAA-sanctioned postseason bowl games, knows the satisfaction with the bowl system will last only as long as it produces a national championship game. The first time the top-ranked teams were unable to meet in a game because of conference bowl ties, however, the cry for a playoff would resume, Hatchell said.

Anticipating that, Hatchell believes there is a need to develop a playoff scenario that would use the existing bowls and said such a plan could be discussed at the Bowl Association meeting in Dallas June 5.

“We can’t just put our heads in the sand,” he said. “We’ve got to say we like the bowl structure as it is, but have we ever explored that (a playoff), can you do a playoff in the bowl structure? It’s a big issue.”

One reason bowl executives fear a playoff is that any type of championship game will cut into the money spent on the bowls by television, advertisers, and fans.

“First blush tells you that any type of a playoff, even a championship game, just one championship game, kills the present bowl structure,” he said. “Even your in-stadium crowd would suffer.”

But a playoff would not necessarily sound a death knell for many of the smaller bowls, Hatchell said. If the bowls themselves drew up a playoff plan that was adopted by the NCAA, it actually could increase interest in the games.

Eight of the 11 bowl games played before or after Jan. 1 failed to sell out and television ratings for most games dropped. Placing strong regional teams in a bowl as part of a playoff could turn struggling bowls into major attractions. Also, when there is a national championship game, such as last year’s Orange Bowl between Oklahoma and Miami, interest in the other major bowls dwindles.

“There’s so many schools, and the payoffs are the same, that you end up with matches you don’t want,” Hatchell said. “(The smaller bowls) are better off under even a plan the bowls would run, because they then get assigned two teams and then they can promote it as part of the playoff structure.”

Until a playoff becomes a reality, there are measures the bowls should take to ensure their financial health. One idea Hatchell endorses is developing a tier approach to the dates of the games.

For example, bowls with payouts between $500,000 and $700,000 per team would schedule their games on certain dates, with other dates allotted for bowls paying between $800,000 and $1 million, and payouts of $1.5 million to $2 million needed to play on Jan. 1.

“I think that would keep everybody from leapfrogging each other” with game dates, Hatchell said. “You get some kind of identification as to where these bowls are.”

He also wants to develop a guidebook similar to one published in conjunction with the NCAA basketball tournament that spells out operating procedures, covering everything from how to allocate media credentials, the methods of paying teams, to when the national anthem should be played.

One part of this idea also has the bowls policing themselves. Many smaller bowls force schools to buy a certain number of tickets and tie payoffs to the number of tickets sold.

“We’ve got to regulate ourselves,” Hatchell said. “Is everybody making their payoffs, is everybody doing what they say they’re doing? Do we want to put up a letter of credit that each bowl is going to pay each team $500,000, which is the minimum?

“Making sure we do it right, that’s a big part of what I’m taking on with this thing.”