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The Football Bowl Subdivision or FBS (formerly Division I-A) is the only American NCAA team sport to determine its champion without a playoff. Despite strong sentiment in favor of a playoff over the current Bowl Championship Series system, and admittance from top-level NCAA and FBS administrators that a playoff would increase overall revenues, the BCS/bowl system remains favored by the majority of university presidents and conference commissioners. This study examined one possible reason there is not a playoff. To achieve this, the revenues of the current system were compared to conservative revenue estimates of a proposed playoff, likely administered by the NCAA, similar to the Division I Basketball Championship. The goal was to determine how the current bowl relationships and contracts factor into university president's resistance to implement a playoff. The findings showed that while more overall revenue could be earned by a playoff, institutions could have less available unrestricted revenue to use at their discretion.
About the author
To fulfill his Master's degree in Administration of Sports and Physical Education, Dave DeVries examined American college football's Bowl Championship Series revenue distributions, as compared to a proposed 16-team playoff's. This study provided a glimpse into what might be a major factor in the adaptation of the BCS over a playoff.
