One thing about an expanded postseason: more playoff games means more playoff trips and more playoff trips means more playoff expenses.
The national champion Crimson Tide totaled $7.3 million in costs for two CFP trips, while runner-up Clemson spent $5.4 million, according to NCAA postseason expense reports for all four playoff teams obtained from the universities by CBS Sports…
Alabama spent the most on a single playoff game this past season, totaling $4.8 million in costs for the CFP National Championship in Glendale, Arizona. That equates to $5,555 per person who made the trip, easily the highest per-game average in the two-year history of the CFP.
To put Alabama’s 2016 title game costs in perspective, the school spent $4.3 million for the 2010 BCS Championship Game in Pasadena, California. Back then, the NCAA required schools to count bonuses for coaches and administrators in bowl expense reports. That’s no longer the case. Alabama spent $6.7 million on the 2016 CFP National Championship game itself when counting bonuses.
If you got it, flaunt it, baby. Besides, all that support staff isn’t showing up for free.
The Crimson Tide sent a traveling party of 904 people to Arlington, Texas, for the Cotton Bowl and 857 to Arizona. Alabama brought 908 people to the semifinal at the Sugar Bowl in 2015, 881 to Miami for the 2013 BCS Championship Game and 778 to New Orleans for the 2012 BCS Championship Game.
Get The Picture 
Try to imagine UGA in the title game. The excitement! The pride! Then, try to imagine Greg McGarity and Carla Williams micromanaging the whole thing, who can go, what can be expensed and what can’t…..basically turning the whole thing into bureaucratic nightmare……
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+1
And you know there would a huge ticket snafu.
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would be
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What I can’t figure out is how 50k bammers can afford to keep going to seccg’s and two playoff games? That’s about at least a 20k commitment which is close to the per capita gross income in the state. You start adding that up since 2009 and you’re talking serious cash. I wonder if there’s been an uptick in bankruptcy filings since saban showed up in t-town?
I’d no doubt make that investment the first time through and until we got the trophy, but year after year? I think that pretty soon I’d just stay on the couch. This is one reason that I don’t think expanded playoffs will work. Most fan bases aren’t going be that insanely committed.
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But those on the couch will be.
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Don’t underestimate the number of wealthy, rabid Tide fans in Birmingham.
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I’m aware of there being quite a few, but 50,000? There’s gotta be some folks going on credit. That’s over 1 out 100 in the state and you have to imagine between 50 to 55% of the state’s residents are either barners or affiliated with other teams or don’t care about football, so it’s more like 1 out every 50 Alabamians (not counting out of state residents) are forking out major cash to go to all these games. It’s pretty remarkable I think.
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They, like Georgia, have a lot of alumni spread over the country and even more “fans”. 50,000 is not a huge number and they aren’t all coming from the state of Alabama.
Clemson had no problem selling their tickets and they have a much smaller alumni base than Bama. “Fans” will spend crazy amounts to follow their team.
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I can see them going over the Redcoat roster and nixing some piccolos
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lol
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Anything worth doing is worth grossly overdoing.
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A good problem to have….
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Precisely why they need to play home and away playoff games leading up to a neutral site title game.
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If Georgia goes to a bowl that isn’t in North Carolina or central Florida, the fan base would be wading in uncharted waters.
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