1. College Football Bowl $eason
By the numbers…

2. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
The college football bowl season featured 41 bowl games (tying last year’s record) played in locations from Idaho to the Bahamas 37 39 41 43 ?

3. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Of the 41 bowl games, ESPN has the broadcast rights to 36 of them (representing nearly 88% of all the bowl games)
36, 88%
31, 76%
25, 61%
22, 54% ? ?

4. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Compare that to 1968, when there were 11 bowls, or even 1984, when there were 18 — a total that would remain more or less static for more than a decade
8, 13
10, 15
11,18
13, 20 ? ?

5. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
The bowl field eventually began expanding rapidly, reaching 20 games in 1997, 25 in 2000 and 32 in 2006 ? ? ?

6. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
In 2000, there were 25 Bowl Games played and each participating team had a winning record. This year, 15 teams will compete with records of .500 or worse (down from 20 teams last year). 10 15 20 25 ?

7. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Of the 41 bowl games, ESPN Events actually owns and operates 14 of them (representing 34% of all the bowl games that were played in the college football bowl season)
14, 34%
16, 39%
18, 44%
20, 49% ? ?

8. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Industry experts estimate title sponsors for the “New Year’s Six” bowl games (Capital One, Allstate, Goodyear, Northwestern Mutual, Chick-fil-A, PlayStation) are paying around $35 million each for their title sponsorships in a package that includes advertising spots throughout the college football regular season)
$30
$32
$35
$37 ?
Source:

9. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
College bowl game season is a big event for Central Florida's sports industry, bringing in $80 million in economic impact (according to a story published in the Orlando Business Journal)
$50
$60
$70
$80 ?

10. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC each will draw a baseline amount of approximately $50 million in the second year of a 12-year contract. The other five FBS-level leagues will split $75 million – but that's more than five times greater than their combined payday in 2013 (according to a USA Today report)
$10, $25
$25, $50
$50, $75
$75, $100 ? ?

11. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
ESPN has a lot at stake with ratings for the College Football Playoff…the network invested $5.64 billion in a 12-year deal to televise the 4-team playoff in 2012
$1.25
$3.57
$5.64
$6.18 ?

12. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
In 2015, the first time ever, two college football playoff games were broadcast on New Year’s Eve. The plan did not work out as television viewership plunged 45 percent for the Cotton Bowl matchup between Oklahoma and Clemson.
45%
34%
27%
25% ?

13. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Last year, as a result of the massive ratings drop, organizers of the College Football Playoff moved the start times of the games ahead by one hour in an effort to help attract more viewers on New Year’s Eve
1 hour
2 hours
3 hours
4 hours ?

14. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
As a result, ratings for the New Year’s Eve bowl games (Alabama-Washington and Clemson-Ohio State) experienced a six percent ratings bump 6%
10%
12%
15% ?

15. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
This year (2018), the games returned to a New Years Day broadcast. The Rose Bowl thriller between the Sooners and Bulldogs saw a 39% ratings increase over last year while the Clemson/Alabama game enjoyed a 10% increase.
35%, 12%
39%, 10%
32%, 17%
43%, 15% ? ?

16. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
ESPN’s asking price for an advertising slot increased from $1 million two years ago to $1.2 million for this year’s semi-final games
$1.2
$1.4
$1.6
$1.8 ?

17. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
41,310 fans watched this year’s TaxSlayer Bowl (Louisville vs. Mississippi State) at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, the lowest attendance for the game since 1957 (in a venue that holds over 67,000)
2000
1992
1974
1957 ?

18. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
According to a report published in December, the economic impact of the nation's college bowl games is $1.5 billion annually
$1 million
$100 million
$1.5 billion
$2 billion ?

19. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Economic impact studies have shown the Sugar Bowl generates $175 million in economic impact for host cities each year. This year, event organizers have suggested the game’s economic impact on the New Orleans area could surpass $200 million.
$190
$200
$210
$220 ?

20. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Since its inception in 1993, the Valero Alamo Bowl (played 22 times) has combined to generate an estimated direct visitor spending of $430.6 million and total impact of more than $710 million for San Antonio
$605
$710
$750
$800 ?

21. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
When Georgia defeated Oklahoma & punched their ticket to the championship game (played in Atlanta), anxious Bulldogs fans crashed StubHub’s website for 20 minutes in a rush to purchase tickets to the game 5 10 15 20 ?

22. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Within 12 hours, StubHub's cheapest ticket for the game was $2,000, and the average price was $2,689. The record for the average price paid for a ticket in a national championship football game is the 2013 BCS title game between Alabama and Notre Dame — at $1,640.
$2,294
$2,689
$2,871
$3,002 ?

23. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Two years ago, straight simulcasts (ESPN’s “Megacast” broadcast feature) of each College Football Playoff semifinal was under 100K viewers on ESPN2. This year, they drew nearly 1 million viewers per game.
400,000
720,000
850,000
1 million ?

24. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
This year, the Holiday Bowl was called the San Diego County Credit Union Bowl, the game’s ninth different identity since it became the SeaWorld Holiday Bowl in 1986
5th
7th
9th
11th ?

25. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
The Idaho Potato Commission recently agreed to a five-year extension of its sponsorship of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at $450,000 annually. The potato commission asserts the “media value’’ of the sponsorship is worth $13 million annually.
$100,000
$275,000
$325,000
$450,000 ?

26. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Five years ago, there were 35 bowl games, and all of them had a title or presenting sponsor. This year, SIX games were without a title sponsor. Sponsorship revenue is a critical revenue stream impacting the financial viability of most college football bowl games. 5 6 7 8 ?

27. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Revenue is distributed to schools who participate in bowl games. This year, the ACC conference enjoyed the largest bowl game payouts, receiving $87.5 million (they also had 10 teams playing in bowl games, more than any other “Power Five” conference).
$52.5
$65.5
$72.5
$87.5 ?

28. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
All four teams selected to play in the College Football Playoff (Oklahoma, Clemson, Alabama & Georgia) were guaranteed $6 million in payouts for their respective schools $5 $6 $7 $8 ?

29. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
This season, the Cotton, Fiesta and Peach Bowls each pay out $4 million per team selected under the College Football Playoff's revenue distribution system $1 $2 $3 $4 ?

30. College Football Bowl $eason
Discussion Questions

31. College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
What are broadcast rights? Why do you think ESPN invested so much in the rights to the college football playoffs? 1
What are ratings? Why are they important to sponsors and advertisers? 2

32. 3 4 College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
What is economic impact? Why is it an important concept when it relates to mega events like the Super Bowl, Olympic Games and NCAA Tournament? 3 4
What factors influence economic impact?

33. 5 6 College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Why do you think there are so many bowl games being played? Do you think there are too many bowl games? Why or why not? 5
Why do you think companies invest millions for the naming rights to bowl games? Why is sponsorship important to organizers of a bowl game? Can you name 10 sponsors of this year’s bowl games? 6

34. 7 8 College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Do you think attendance is important to bowl game organizers? Why or why not? What can college football bowl organizers do to increase attendance at games? 7
Why do you think attendance is on the decline for bowl games? What are some promotional ideas you would implement to help sell more tickets? 8

35. 9 College Football Bowl $eason by the Numbers
Why do you think college football programs receive “payouts” for participating in bowl games? Why do some bowl games receive a higher share of revenue distribution than other bowl games? Which bowl games receive the highest payouts? 9