Everything I wrote last week about the new College Football Playoff deal with ESPN, forget all that…maybe. Last week’s report of a multibillion dollar deal for a total of eight years of playoff games was premature, that is according to the reports of CBS Sports college football insider Dennis Dodd. Sources tell Dodd that MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher circulated a memo to his conference athletics directors saying the committee has yet to review a draft of the deal. That committee is made up of the college football conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletics director.
First off, I would bet my life savings that two of those conference commissioners have reviewed the deal. Nobody is more powerful in the college sports landscape than SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey (who oversees a conference that is business partners with ESPN). Thinking he and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti have not seen ESPN’s bid is a bridge too far for me. Second, many in the media world have speculated that ESPN may be the only bidder. In that case, if you have or haven’t seen the deal, it is probably the deal no matter what.
All of that is irrelevant to what I am writing about today. The fact remains that someone will cut a deal with the College Football Playoff and it will be a big one. That is the issue as it pertains to the fans. Television dollars run the sport, this is nothing new. But the television dollars spent on the College Football Playoff are running the fans out of the stadiums. As a primer for those who have forgotten, the top four seeds get byes in round one, seeds five through twelve will play on the campus of the higher seeded team. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game will be played at a neutral site.
That is the problem for the average fan. For purposes of this discussion, let’s work off the final AP Top 25 of the 2023 season. Ohio State finished 11-2 and was ranked #10, they have a massive fan base and would be among the favorites in any College Football Playoff even with an 11-2 record. That massive fan base travels as well as any group of fans in the sport. No matter where the Buckeyes play, they have fans. We are about to see what those fans would have to pay if Ohio State gets hot.
Round One: Ohio State at Oregon, Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon. The Buckeyes draw the seventh seeded Ducks in one of the tougher environments in the game. The first round games are played on the Friday and Saturday before Christmas, who has plans then? On Expedia, I am able to book a round trip United Airlines flight from Columbus, Ohio to Portland, Oregon for $357, heck of a deal. I’ll, conservatively, add $200 for a rental car for my trip and all I have left is my hotel costs. An average hotel in Eugene goes for about $200 per night so I sleep for $400. Total Cost (before tickets): $957.00
Quarterfinals: Ohio State versus Texas, AllState Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, Louisiana. The quarterfinals and semifinals are played in the New Year’s Six Bowl Games, I am assuming the selection committee rewards Texas with a site close to Austin so the Buckeyes are off to The Big Easy. Delta flies us to Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans for a round trip cost of $561, we spend $100 on Uber (New Orleans is very walkable) but we can’t save on hotel rooms. New Year’s in New Orleans is not cheap, we spend $300 a night to sleep soundly.
Total Cost (before tickets): $1,261.00, Grand Total: $2,218.00
Semifinals: Ohio State versus Washington, Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas. Since we are going to DFW, American Airlines is our best bet this time, we fly round trip for $497. We drop another $200 on our rental and the average Dallas hotel is around $250 a night. We didn’t break the bank but this is adding up very quickly and, as a reminder, we have yet to buy a single ticket.
Total Cost (before tickets): $1,197.00, Grand Total: $3,415.00
Finals: Ohio State versus Michigan, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia. If you fly to Atlanta, you fly Delta. I live in Birmingham, every Southerner knows that, if you die in the South, you have a layover in Atlanta on the way to Heaven. Our round trip flight goes for $504 and we Uber in downtown Atlanta for $100. The good news is there are tons of really good hotels walkable to Mercedes-Benz. The bad news is they are not cheap for big events. You are looking at a minimum of $400 per night.
Total Cost (before tickets): $1,504.00, Grand Total: $4,919.00
Before we have eaten our first bite of food, before we have paid a single dollar for a seat, we are already out almost $5,000.00 per person. The expanded College Football Playoff works for television but has priced out the average fan. Who doesn’t want to spend their retirement chasing a championship across America? If you don’t mind that, do I have a deal for you!
Ryan Brown is a columnist for Barrett Sports Media, and a co-host of the popular sports audio/video show ‘The Next Round’ formerly known as JOX Roundtable, which previously aired on WJOX in Birmingham. You can find him on Twitter @RyanBrownLive and follow his show @NextRoundLive.
