College Football Salary Research Paper

Do you enjoy college football, specifically the college football playoffs? Well, if you do you are not alone. Last year, in the college football playoffs premiere, the semifinal games averaged over 28 million viewers per game, and the playoff final had 33.4 million viewers. The playoff final also earned the highest ESPN ratings for a sporting event ever, according to an article in the USA today by Erik Brady. The playoffs obtained “the top two rated shows in the history of cable television”(Brady). It is safe to say that the college football playoff with four teams lived up to the fans expectations. A 16 team playoff could only ascend above those marks. Thus, establishing a 16 team playoff would mean more viewers, and even higher ratings on

A 16 team playoff is guaranteed to bring more money and an immense profit, which satisfies the needs of those businessmen. Between TV contracts, merchandising and investments in athletic programs, colleges in the United States generate hundreds of millions of dollars every year. A playoff with 16 teams only produces more opportunities for investments. A 16-team playoff creates ample advertising opportunities on a plethora of high-profile games that simply don’t exist in today’s college football. FOX, ABC, CBS and NBC’s mouths would be watering at the thought of broadcasting these games. Not to mention, the ticket revenue from almost guaranteed sold-out games on college campuses cannot be ignored. The college football playoff will generate more football games to increase profit. College sports can be a marvelous value experience and a focal point for community-building. But only a few colleges have programs that can provide such benefits without imposing significant costs on their institutions. A 16 playoff solves this problem by giving more teams a chance to play in the playoff. If a team makes the playoff it would be hard not to make profit off tickets, TV contracts and team merchandise. A 16 team playoff gives more teams a chance to make money, creates more opportunities to make money and ultimately generates much more

Essentially, every conference winner gets invited to the playoffs. A 16 team playoff benefits smaller schools: “An eight or 16 team playoff also would provide a spot for the Little Guys — ‘little’ being a relative term in professional-amateur collegiate sports — in the Group of Five conferences.”(LePrete). For success, look at the impact of the expansion of the NCAA basketball tournament, who gave small schools a chance by creating a 64 team playoff. Since opening the field up to 64 teams, mid-major programs have actually competed in championship games and final fours. Notably, it gives every single college football team a chance to compete for the national championship every year, just like in college basketball. For example, look at Western Michigan this year, a small school who is undefeated and not receiving any respect from the playoff committee, ranked at 13, currently nine spots out of the four team playoff. They are one of two undefeated teams in the nation, the other, Alabama ranked at number one overall, which shows the flaws in a four team playoff. A team who has worked so hard, and has earned an undefeated record will not receive a spot in the playoff. The other team that is undefeated is number one and, the other is not even in the playoff. A 16 team playoff solves this controversy by bringing in the teams that deserve a spot and then having them