Just one man’s opinion but the players disinterest in bowl games all comes down to money. Players know that everyone’s getting PAID but them - the schools, the coaches, the bowl, the host city, the TV networks - and the money is significant.
Take 1/2 the bowl payout and set it aside for the players. The winning team gets 2/3 share and the losing team gets 1/3 share.
Taking it a step further, every player on the team doesn’t get an equal split of the pot. Predetermine how the pot will be divided based on players performance during the season, players vote or some other method. Split the pot into 1,000 or 10,000 shares and pre-determine the shares each player will receive of the pot the team receives.
The starting QB might get 500 shares of the 10,000 while the backup TE might get 50. Either way, it’s incentive for the best players not to opt-out and every player has the opportunity to double their payout by winning the game and sharing the winners pot vs the losers pot.
Additionally, set coaches contracts so that they don’t get paid a bonus for going to a bowl game - instead they get paid a greater amount for winning the bowl game and nothing for losing. Coaches are already getting paid significant enough amounts of money.
Until there’s a financial benefit for top tier players to play in non-playoff bowl games, plus the coaches and schools having some skin in the game, the majority of bowl games will continue to be more and more irrelevant.
Just one man’s observation.
Take 1/2 the bowl payout and set it aside for the players. The winning team gets 2/3 share and the losing team gets 1/3 share.
Taking it a step further, every player on the team doesn’t get an equal split of the pot. Predetermine how the pot will be divided based on players performance during the season, players vote or some other method. Split the pot into 1,000 or 10,000 shares and pre-determine the shares each player will receive of the pot the team receives.
The starting QB might get 500 shares of the 10,000 while the backup TE might get 50. Either way, it’s incentive for the best players not to opt-out and every player has the opportunity to double their payout by winning the game and sharing the winners pot vs the losers pot.
Additionally, set coaches contracts so that they don’t get paid a bonus for going to a bowl game - instead they get paid a greater amount for winning the bowl game and nothing for losing. Coaches are already getting paid significant enough amounts of money.
Until there’s a financial benefit for top tier players to play in non-playoff bowl games, plus the coaches and schools having some skin in the game, the majority of bowl games will continue to be more and more irrelevant.
Just one man’s observation.
