Notre Dame joined a conference—for the bowl season—courtesy of the BCS in 2006-07. Now that two years of the four-year BCS contract have elapsed, it is time to analyze the results.
BCS Contract Changes for Notre Dame—What Happened
Effective the 2006-2007 bowl season, the Bowl Championship Series expanded their number of bowl games to five by adding a separate National Championship game—10 slots for BCS games.
Notre Dame, with former athletic director Kevin White negotiating, agreed to accept second-place (in a conference) money—$4.5 million—for any BCS bowl appearance. Previously, Notre Dame received a conference champion’s share, which has since grown to $17 million.
Automatic qualification for Notre Dame was changed from the top six to the top eight. Qualification for selection remained at the top 12 with nine wins.
If Notre Dame did not go to a BCS bowl, it would receive the equivalent of a Big East non-participating team share—$1.3 million.
Many ND alumni and fans were immediately upset with this agreement—and rightfully so. The bowls were pleased to get Notre Dame for one-fourth the cost.
What it meant for Notre Dame, who does not need the $1.3 million per year if it doesn't make the BCS, is this:
- Under the prior agreement, one BCS bowl in four years would be $17 million.
- Under the new agreement, four BCS bowls in four years would be $18 million ($4.5 million x 4).
- Under the new agreement, one BCS bowl in four years would be $8.4 million ($4.5 million + (3 x $1.3 million or $3.9 million)).
Anything fewer than four BCS bowls in four years is less money than one BCS bowl under the prior contract—and that assumes the conference champion’s share does not continue to go up.
Notre Dame could be ranked number one, higher than any conference champion, play for the national championship, and get the same $4.5 million—second-place money.
In adding the fifth game, the BCS would guarantee at least two at-large spots for second-place BCS conference teams. With ten spots—minus six automatically going to the conference champions—two of the remaining four could possibly go to a non-BCS team and to Notre Dame—as in 2006-07. Two more would be available for other BCS teams.
Non-BCS teams—Boise State and Hawaii—have met automatic qualifier status in the first two years of the new rules. Last year, when Notre Dame did not qualify, three spots went to BCS at-large teams.
Of course, if neither ND nor a non-BCS team qualifies, four slots would be open to BCS conference teams. Under the prior agreement, in 2005-06 with only four BCS games, Penn State and Notre Dame filled the only two at-large slots available.
In short, the BCS conferences exchanged a negligible change in qualification status to ND for much less money and increased the number of second-place conference teams in BCS bowls
The Notre Dame Impact on a Bowl
Bowl chairmen are first and foremost businessmen. They recognize Notre Dame will fill bowl seats, bring higher TV ratings and advertising revenue, fill hotels, and please corporate sponsors and community businessmen. Bowl selections are all about generating revenue.
Last year, ESPN ran a poll of the most popular football teams regionally and nationally. Notre Dame was the only team in the top five for all regions of the country and finished number one overall.
TV ratings: Many people will watch a Notre Dame game and root for a loss. Notre Dame has been to two Fiesta Bowls (2006 and 2001)—which rank first and third in Fiesta Bowl TV rankings, excluding national championship games.
The average TV rating for a Fiesta Bowl when ND participates is 11.8. Without ND, the average Fiesta Bowl TV rating is 9.225. The difference is approximately 2.7 million households.
Overall, the BCS has had the highest TV ratings in its history in 2005-06 when Notre Dame played. Ratings tanked last year due to disinterest in uncompelling match ups.
Notre Dame’s trip to the Sugar Bowl in 2007 was rated the third highest non-championship Sugar Bowl in TV ratings.
Ticket demand: For the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame received over 45,000 ticket requests for 22,000 tickets. Notre Dame has a national fan base that is willing to travel.
In comparison, for the 2008 Fiesta Bowl, West Virginia was allotted 17,500 tickets, but sold only 7,981 which included 1,345 guest tickets for coaches and family and two planeloads of band members. The guest tickets were paid for by the university at $130 per ticket.
Economic Impact on the Community: New Orleans enjoyed an economic impact of $126.7 million from the 2007 Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and LSU. Sixty percent of the game attendees stayed at local hotels with an average hotel stay of 2.46 nights. With LSU playing in their home state, the vast majority of hotel night stays were due to Notre Dame fans for a revenue of $21.02 million.
The Sugar Bowl paid $9 million for ND and LSU, since each received $4.5 million.
For all these economic impacts, Notre Dame and its fans are hugely attractive to BCS bowls. For all these reasons, the BCS, with negotiations for a new TV deal beginning in September this year, has a vested interest in maintaining Notre Dame’s partnership.
Possible Resolutions
While the current BCS agreement that established a coalition with the bowls has two years remaining, TV networks negotiating this fall for a four-year agreement will want Notre Dame included. Weis and his coaching staff are working on a fourth top-10 recruiting class and most of the team are talented freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.
Since Kevin White has now departed for Duke, the new Athletic Director may well have BCS financial decisions at the top of his list.
Some Specific Possible Solutions
1. All BCS bowl teams receive the same amount.
- B/R Ticket Guide
This would equalize any disparities between Notre Dame, non-BCS teams, and conference second-place teams. While it is highly unlikely that a non-BCS team or a second-place conference team would play for a national championship, it is possible Notre Dame could in the near future.
2. Notre Dame’s share could be changed back to a conference champion’s share.
3. A Sliding Scale for Notre Dame.
If ND finishes in the top six, higher than at least one conference champion, they would receive a champion’s share. If ND finishes from seven to 12, they would receive a second-place share.
This would mimic the results from 2005 when Notre Dame finished sixth, ahead of two conference champions, receiving a champion's share under the prior agreement—and also 2006 when ND finished 11th and received a second-place share under the new agreement
Outside possiblities:
1. The bowls and TV networks negotiate independently of the BCS with a separate Notre Dame.
2. A non-BCS bowl decides to offer Notre Dame significantly more money than the current BCS contract provides.
These solutions would appeal to all the free market enterprise proponents.
Arguments
The argument has been made that Notre Dame, since it does not have to share its BCS money with a conference, should not net more money than conference champions who go to the same bowls. Notre Dame also cannot share expenses.
Here are the NCAA Postseason Financials. ND's net profit from the 2007 Sugar Bowl was $1.6 million—slightly more than the share if they had not gone to a BCS bowl, or 1.13% of total bowl profits that year.
In the first year of the contract (2006-07 bowl season when ND went to the Sugar Bowl), total payouts to conferences and ND increased by $26 million over the previous year. Conference championship shares increased a total of $18 million (from $14 million to $17 million—$3 million x 6) as Notre Dame’s share decreased by $9.5 million.
Since $9 million went to the that year's non-BCS qualifying school, Boise State, the difference in the contracts Notre Dame signed went to the BCS conferences.
The SEC made the most profit that year—$28 million for its twelve teams – or 19% of the total profit. The Big East made the least - $15 million for 8 teams.
(From the link above)
|
Conferences (# of Teams) |
Bowl Profit |
Avg. profit per team |
|
SEC (12) |
$28,387,595 |
2.37 million |
|
Big Ten (11) |
$24,596,178 |
2.24 mil |
|
Big East (8) |
$15,379,427 |
1.92 mil |
|
Pac 10 (10) |
$18,129,063 |
1.81 mil |
|
Big 12 (12) |
$20,337,305 |
1.69 mil |
|
ACC (12) |
$19,561,526 |
1.63 mil |
The “conference share” of $1.3 million that Notre Dame receives if they do not go to a BCS bowl is now less than any BCS conference team’s share.
Conclusion
Since Notre Dame’s involvement in the BCS benefits all, and since the apparent inequities need to be addressed, changes in the current BCS contract would make good business sense.
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5 months ago
Very interesting article. Thanks Michael.
5 months ago
Nice shot you took on West Virginia?
You didn't mention that we lost the chance to play for the National Championship (many had already purchased non-refundable tickets and accomadations) and then we lost our coach and many were angry. West Virginia is famous for how well it travels.
Why does the media wish to attack a state like West Virginia? Hell, even the Vice President made sure to reference the "fact" that West Virginians are all married to their sisters. Did you know that black people fall asleep near machinery?
from 5 months ago
Mickey,
No shot at West Virginia intended, but just wanted to report what I learned. I linked the article to the sentence. Your explanation is quite helpful.
from 5 months ago
I'm with Mickey, so you didn't find out anything about any other teams that traveled poorly or didn't sell their allotted tickets? C'mon, it's just one more dig against West Virginia...even when we win a national championship, you are the people that will say it was just a fluke, just like Corso. When you look at highlights from ESPN after the bowl games last year, who was it at the top of the hour, every hour, oh yeah, that's right, WVU.
from 5 months ago
Are you WVU fans ever going to stop crying?
from 5 months ago
You have just proven that WVU fans are sore losers. I think that is much worse than the example provided in the original article. Talk about trashing your own fan base.
from 5 months ago
I think West Virginia had a great year last year and showed how good a team they are by thrashing Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Seems like you may be better off without Rodriguez.
from 5 months ago
Mickey was right all the people that paid for tickets to New Orleans had no way of getting tickets to the Fiesta Bowl. To all that wanna call WVU fans cry babies and sore losers (aka Ryan) in three years Rich Rod will either be fired or leave town. His ego is big for his own good. Pat White and Steve Slaton made him look good. His record speaks of that.
5 months ago
ND sells. Like you mentioned, there are a lot of people that love the Irish and a lot of people that hate them. Either way you get bring in a wide range of audiences, either rooting for them to win or lose. Nice research, good article.
from 5 months ago
Thanks, Pat. I enjoyed researching it. Glad you liked it.
5 months ago
My thoughts on this issue is that Notre Dame should be a part of a conference if it wants to be included in the big money.
Remaining Independant has it benefits for the school, it's players, it's alumni, and it't fans.
BCS Bowl money is not one of the benefits. Join a conference and that issue will be solved.
from 5 months ago
Notre Dame is in a conference. There happens to be one school in it. If fans of other schools don't like it, they should get their schools to go Independant.
What most fans of other schools fail to realize, is that Notre Dame is independent due to biggotry and hatred. Back in the day when the conferences were formed, many schools, especially the Big10, did not want to play Notre Dame predominately because they were 1) Irish 2) Catholic.
Notre Dame had to take on the philosophy that they would play anyone, anywhere, anytime.
The tiny school from the middle of nowhere started beating the powerhouses such as Army, Navy, Michigan, Iowa Preflight, etc.
Today, that small school is hated by many because those who were cast off as second-rate citizens, banded together. They banded together because the school believed in doing what is right, and by winning. Most today don't hate Notre Dame because they are winning. Most hate them because they do things the right way.
Notre Dame, with less than 9,000 undergrad students, is still tiny. They still do things the right way, and they are about to get back on their winning ways again. The hate will continue....so will the Love.
5 months ago
Uncle Rico,
Boy are you ever off track.
Although the history lesson and attitudes of the early 20th century were just as you describe, they really don't have much bearing on today's world.
Notre Dame stays independant because the money is good to be independant, and because their independance from other conferences put them in a unique situation. Their alumni base is from every corner of the world and for the most part, pretty much upperclass.
If anyone is giving a snubing now, it's ND to the rest of the world.
I really don't care if they stay independant. I does not bother me that they are the favoite child of the financial world, the media, and the millions of fans around the world.
But this discussion is about ND getting left out of the BCS bowl money because of thier independance status. The only way to aleve that is to joing a conference.
Conference of One? Who are you thinking you stumped with that one? Those two words don't even belong in the same sentance. Sort of like saying "Jumbo Shrimp". We know what it means, but the image is laughable.
I was raised in Catholic Schools in the south. Those nuns beat Notre Dame into us every chance they got, back in the 50's. So I have always loved the ND football team. I have been able to sing the fight song since I was about 7 years old.
Still does make this Conference of One eligible to the benefits of the BCS, if chooses not to play by the rules set up by the BCS, as do the other major schools that participate in the BCS, the way it is written today.
from 5 months ago
My question has always been: If being independent is so financially advantageous, why don't other "major" programs join those ranks. From a financial point of view, why would USC share their money with Wazzou? Why would Texas share with Baylor? What does Baylor bring to the table?
I just love when people say that ND should join a conference to make it "fair." My thought is, if it's so "unfair," join us. Build up a fan base and join us.
from 5 months ago
independEnt...independEnce...sentEnce...thAnk you
5 months ago
I have an easy solution. One taken from the past. ND should finish #1 during the regular season and refuse to play in the BCS! ND didn't play in post season bowls from the late 1920s until the early 1970s and managed to win several national championships in the process.
Would this screw things up or what?
5 months ago
In this day and age everything about amature atheletics is being monetized and securitized. Why the angst about the irish? they bring a lot to the table, just treat them like a conference winner for purposes of the bcs, that is is they "deserve" it from on field performance. its no big deal. as the article pointed out its a lot of buck for everyuone involved.
5 months ago
Are we living in a socialist society? I think all conferences should be disbanded and schools should be rewarded for their own merrit and not because they happen to be in the same conference as an LSU, USC or Ohio State. Stand on your own two feet and earn it like Notre Dame does. You can still have your rivalry games, i.e. Bama vs. Auburn, there just wouldn't be a conference championship banner to hang in the gym. Who wants that anyway? The only banner that is impoertant id for the NC. So, those schools that want to take shots at ND for not being in a conference must theoretically be socialists. By the way, ND is in more like 3 conferences. The first part of the season, they are in the Big 10 and then they go into the Service Academies and the Pac 10. Drop the conferences and we'll see what schools can survive on their own...college football Darwinism.
5 months ago
Michel, excellent article. I am a long time ND fan and my opinions may be biased I think not. There are only two things that should be considered in this situation. Fairness to any potential BCS team and marketability. Notre Dame is a huge brand name. It's participation in any Bowl game generates more revenue than most if not all teams. I don't think the anyone would argue that. That marketability is worth something. Also, I look at ND as an independent vs. conference schools no differently than a major company owned by an individual vs. one owned by several shareholders. When either one is successful, they should receive the same money for their product. Why would I look at one and say, that because it does not have to share its profit with other shareholders, it should be paid less. ND while not a conference is entitled to the same money as a conference champion they should receive all the profits. If they do not perform they should run the risk of getting nothing. That is the only fair way of doing it.
from 5 months ago
Thanks, Jim. Nice business analogy. College football is rich in traditions - Texas and Oklahoma to their commitments to the Big 12, Ohio State and Michigan to the Big 10, USC and UCLA to the Pac-10, Florida and LSU to the SEC, etc... Notre Dame's tradition to their independence. Most conference schools and their fans recognize and respect that, I hope.
5 months ago
Let the big dog eat!
5 months ago
vuyauvau
5 months ago
sorry for the comment above.
5 months ago
Notre Dame should create its own Independent Bowl game to play at the end of the season, regardless of how they finish. They would play the best team that would accept their challenge. How much money would that generate? If you are gonna be independent, take it all the way.
5 months ago
I think of Notre Dame as "self insuring". If I choose not to carry medical insurance then I shoulder all of the expenses myself as the occur. Conversley I bennefit from the savings of not having a premium. A conference is a bit like an insurance company. People get together and you spread out the liability and bennefits. The only problem is ensuring equity in the policy holders. I am sure that Northwestern is in a far better place than Michigan in the arrangement. Similar to smoker and a non smoker paying the same medical premium - not exactly the same. But in insurance there are ways to ensure that the policy is more commensurate with the risk. Not so in college sports conferences. Otherwise it would seem in order to not reward Northwestern with as much as the benefits of the conference bowl revenues (since they put no where near the resources into their athletic program as say Michigan and Ohio State). Given that, you cannot fault someone for choosing to go it alone when in reality that is the more fair and transparent way to operate. If they are willing to shoulder the risk then they should be able to partake in the bennefit.
Mathew commit is strange in that a Bowl game is not for us to award or take away. Colleges are trying to sell their products. The bowl games are the bidders. The BCS should not interefere with the free market process. Everyone should have the same opportunity (which means the same opportunity to bennefit from the $).
from 5 months ago
I agree, Jim. Increased risk for a greater reward, even if the reward is to schedule who you want. Would ND joining the Big East (or another conference) be comparable to an medical insurance company recruiting non-smokers to decrease their liabilities?
5 months ago
Jim,
Why would anyone else want to?
Being out of phase with the rest of the world is not exactly attractive.
Glad you loved the part about being "fair". Most ND fans like that one.
5 months ago
Personally, I think the contractual obligations allowing ND to waltz into the BCS are ridiculous.
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