Schools lose out at BCS

“When Alabama and Auburn play in the national championship game and they got to absorb ticket money? It’s amazing!” Enright said. “I would guess for Alabama and Auburn, if there was some sort of requirement that they buy the tickets through the school they would have sold out their allotment.”

The key to coming out with a profit, the data showed, was to minimize expenses and sell as many tickets as possible. While many schools struggled to keep costs down, there were some examples of schools that went to BCS bowls and came out in the black.

The most profitable trip to the BCS over the past three years came in 2010, when Boise State played TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. Not only did the Broncos win 17-10, but they brought home $1.6 million in profits. Boise State sold nearly all of their tickets, and had the second lowest total expenses of all schools over the past three years.

The team with the lowest expenses was Cincinnati, the 2010 Big East champion who represented the conference in the Sugar Bowl. Cincinnati was blown out by a Tim Tebow led Florida squad 51-24, but the school came out with over $1 million in profits thanks to strong ticket sales and very low transportation costs.

No other schools approached $1 million in profits, however, and the fact that so many schools are struggling with the costs associated with BCS bowl games will likely be addressed during the upcoming BCS negotiations this spring.

“This is not a situation that is going to go on unnoticed by administrators,” Enright said, also saying that the fact that bowls are managed by private organizations, and not the NCAA, is also something that will likely be addressed.

“The system is currently undergoing a reevaluation, and that’s been needed,” Perko said. “Hopefully whatever results come out of these decisions that are going to be made over the next couple months will better serve the universities from a financial standpoint.”