[CTcard]

For heaven's sake, Cal is going to Phoenix with a crappier record, and the payout for the Cheez-It Bowl is nearly $1 million higher than the Sun Bowl!  

Others have noted that the pay out for the particular bowl a Pac 12 team goes to doesn't really matter.
I cannot find confirmation of the $1+ million higher number.
There is a note in this thread that the Cheez-It bowl increased its payout to $3+ million. That was reported with some confidence so I suspect it's correct. What I can find in a quick web search is a lower number.
Cheez-it $1,037,118
Sun       $3,447,568
http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bowl-schedule/2018/

I sent an email to the Athletics Department begging them to focus intently on relations with bowl committees so we're not in this situation ever again.  With an 8-4 record, we should be playing in either San Diego, Santa Clara, or Las Vegas.

I was personally hoping that we'd sneak into the Holiday Bowl but I'll gladly settle for the Sun Bowl over some of the alternatives, particularly the Redbox Bowl.  As has been discussed on this board ad nauseum, just because Santa Clara is close to Palo Alto doesn't mean that Stanford fans would be more likely to attend the Redbox Bowl considering the alumni base is so spread out.

It is perplexing that we weren't chosen for the Holiday Bowl. 

I was hoping we'd sneak into the Holiday Bowl as well, but there was essentially zero chance once WSU didn't make it into the NY6.
We did have the same conference record as Utah, but a worse overall record and they get deference for making the conference championship.

A guy I’ve known for a long time who works for the Redbox people and who works in other press boxes told me that the bowl wanted nothing to do with Stanford.

Yes the Foster Farms/Redbox organizer's disappointment with our 2014 appearance at their bowl has been well documented.  What is unclear is why; I believe CTCard posted information suggesting attendance at that bowl was higher for the Stanford-Maryland game than for games before or after.  I'm not sure if that has to do with inflated expectations of the local school going to the bowl, or if the AD did something to piss them off.

Yes, the somewhat surprising result of the bowl shuffle (the only surprising element for the Pac) is Oregon to the Redbox Bowl and Stanford to the Sun (nominally in reversed order).
There seems to be a thing between Stanford and that bowl. [I did post the attendance, the year Stanford was there was the highest attendance for several years on either side.]
I have heard there were some set of hard feelings on both sides that year (perhaps based upon Stanford folks finding the "trip" uninspiring). Two years later when the possibility arose again, Stanford openly lobbied to go to the Sun Bowl instead, which I understand did not go over well with the folks in Santa Clara. I didn't hear anything particular about jockeying this year but at this point it would appear that neither Stanford nor the chicken/redbox people want much to do with each other - Stanford likely happier going to El Paso.

Perhaps of note, among the many minor bowls, the Sun Bowl seems to have the best reputation of treating the teams well, and having community involvement with the game. Of course fan bases tend to hate the idea of going to El Paso.

I would note that if you look at the attendance of bowl games Stanford has gone to lately, plus and minus a few years, there is no evidence that there is any attendance hit when Stanford is in the game versus anyone else. The attendance at all but the most major bowls has been declining - and has most always been terrible. For that matter, Div. 1 football attendance broadly has been declining - though it looks to me as less steeply and more recently than the bowl games. Financially, bowl games are a pure television play - essentially ESPN's holiday content plan.

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I would guess we are also less attractive as a fair number of the Stanford attendees in 2014 probably lived locally so no bump in hotel or other tourism related spending

Not much tourism spending for any team coming to a minor bowl in Santa Clara - certainly compared to what is already in the area.
Any western team has lots of alums in the area.
No tourism spending goes to the organizers of the bowl.

I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect it is a personal relationship thing along with a dash of Stanford wanting to give the kids a trip.

[CTcard]

For heaven's sake, Cal is going to Phoenix with a crappier record, and the payout for the Cheez-It Bowl is nearly $1 million higher than the Sun Bowl!  

Others have noted that the pay out for the particular bowl a Pac 12 team goes to doesn't really matter.
I cannot find confirmation of the $1+ million higher number.
There is a note in this thread that the Cheez-It bowl increased its payout to $3+ million. That was reported with some confidence so I suspect it's correct. What I can find in a quick web search is a lower number.
Cheez-it $1,037,118
Sun       $3,447,568
http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bowl-schedule/2018/

I sent an email to the Athletics Department begging them to focus intently on relations with bowl committees so we're not in this situation ever again.  With an 8-4 record, we should be playing in either San Diego, Santa Clara, or Las Vegas.

I was personally hoping that we'd sneak into the Holiday Bowl but I'll gladly settle for the Sun Bowl over some of the alternatives, particularly the Redbox Bowl.  As has been discussed on this board ad nauseum, just because Santa Clara is close to Palo Alto doesn't mean that Stanford fans would be more likely to attend the Redbox Bowl considering the alumni base is so spread out.

It is perplexing that we weren't chosen for the Holiday Bowl. 

I was hoping we'd sneak into the Holiday Bowl as well, but there was essentially zero chance once WSU didn't make it into the NY6.
We did have the same conference record as Utah, but a worse overall record and they get deference for making the conference championship.

A guy I’ve known for a long time who works for the Redbox people and who works in other press boxes told me that the bowl wanted nothing to do with Stanford.

Yes the Foster Farms/Redbox organizer's disappointment with our 2014 appearance at their bowl has been well documented.  What is unclear is why; I believe CTCard posted information suggesting attendance at that bowl was higher for the Stanford-Maryland game than for games before or after.  I'm not sure if that has to do with inflated expectations of the local school going to the bowl, or if the AD did something to piss them off.

Yes, the somewhat surprising result of the bowl shuffle (the only surprising element for the Pac) is Oregon to the Redbox Bowl and Stanford to the Sun (nominally in reversed order).
There seems to be a thing between Stanford and that bowl. [I did post the attendance, the year Stanford was there was the highest attendance for several years on either side.]
I have heard there were some set of hard feelings on both sides that year (perhaps based upon Stanford folks finding the "trip" uninspiring). Two years later when the possibility arose again, Stanford openly lobbied to go to the Sun Bowl instead, which I understand did not go over well with the folks in Santa Clara. I didn't hear anything particular about jockeying this year but at this point it would appear that neither Stanford nor the chicken/redbox people want much to do with each other - Stanford likely happier going to El Paso.

Perhaps of note, among the many minor bowls, the Sun Bowl seems to have the best reputation of treating the teams well, and having community involvement with the game. Of course fan bases tend to hate the idea of going to El Paso.

I would note that if you look at the attendance of bowl games Stanford has gone to lately, plus and minus a few years, there is no evidence that there is any attendance hit when Stanford is in the game versus anyone else. The attendance at all but the most major bowls has been declining - and has most always been terrible. For that matter, Div. 1 football attendance broadly has been declining - though it looks to me as less steeply and more recently than the bowl games. Financially, bowl games are a pure television play - essentially ESPN's holiday content plan.

---

I would guess we are also less attractive as a fair number of the Stanford attendees in 2014 probably lived locally so no bump in hotel or other tourism related spending

Not much tourism spending for any team coming to a minor bowl in Santa Clara - certainly compared to what is already in the area.
Any western team has lots of alums in the area.
No tourism spending goes to the organizers of the bowl.

I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect it is a personal relationship thing along with a dash of Stanford wanting to give the kids a trip.