[FarmBoy]

People forget that the entire bowl system is not created as a reward for teams that perform well during the season. Rather, bowls exist to increase tourism revenue for the host cities and make money for the stadium owners. The student-athletes and rewarding performance is completely secondary to making money. March Madness this is not. There is a lot of money on the line for these bowls, and making sure that the bowls can sell the tickets and fill hotel rooms is the primary consideration in place. TV ratings are a consideration as well, but not as big a factor. So the conference has to give and take with their bowl sponsors, allowing them to maximize their revenue while maintaining some semblance of a reward system for a successful campaign.

[FarmBoy]

People forget that the entire bowl system is not created as a reward for teams that perform well during the season. Rather, bowls exist to increase tourism revenue for the host cities and make money for the stadium owners. The student-athletes and rewarding performance is completely secondary to making money. March Madness this is not. There is a lot of money on the line for these bowls, and making sure that the bowls can sell the tickets and fill hotel rooms is the primary consideration in place. TV ratings are a consideration as well, but not as big a factor. So the conference has to give and take with their bowl sponsors, allowing them to maximize their revenue while maintaining some semblance of a reward system for a successful campaign.