r/CFB • Alabama Crimson Tide • Iron Bowl • 1d ago

News [Matt Hayes] The SEC willingly flushed its conference championship game that last year had better ratings than all eight first round CFP games of the brief, 12-team era.

https://x.com/MattHayesCFB/status/2111056779366785054
1.3k Upvotes

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u/i_run_from_problems Boise State • Christian Brothe… 1d ago edited 1d ago

We're not just doing this for money

We're doing it for a shitload of money!

158

u/Pinewood74 Air Force Falcons • Purdue Boilermakers 1d ago

No, we're not. Net $155M is fucking peanuts when you really think about it. Not even $3M on average per P4 school.

And that's only accounting for the CCGs.

Still need to deduct the bowl game losses. And I wouldn't be the least bit shocked if late season matchups lose some juice.

And I also think that ESPN is vastly overestimating the interest level in these first round matchups. I don't think Georgia Tech vs BYU is really pulling much national audience when everyone is expecting the winner to get clobbered on the road by Georgia.

25

u/Calithrand Oregon State Beavers • Platypus Trophy 23h ago

Weirdly, I have found that the quarter/semifinals in the CFP era to be significantly more entertaining than the championship game. Like, to the extent that I've fallen asleep watching the championship game in at least two different years.

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u/DarthHegatron Duke Blue Devils • Georgia Bulldogs 13h ago

It certainly didn't help that the past two years the winner of the championship game felt like a forgone conclusion