"Money don't get everything, it's true
What it don't get, I can't use."
-- The Beatles
Yeah, money's great.
And the Utes are back in the money, playing in a BCS bowl -- where the cash is big, but not as big as one might think.
The Utes are expected to get a bid to this year's Sugar Bowl, which has a payout of about $17 million. However, they likely won't take home more than a third of that. The reason: conference affiliations.
Last year's non-BCS entry, Hawaii, played in the Sugar Bowl. The Warriors garnered a final check of $4.4 million ' a record for non-BCS schools -- but actually only cleared $2.2 million after expenses. Boise State's share of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl was $4.3 million, approximately the same Utah took home from the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.
Bottom line, teams don't clear as much as one might think in the BCS bowls. But they don't make much of anything if they don't go to a BCS bowl. For instance, the Poinsettia Bowl ' last year's bowl game for Utah ' pays out $750,000. The Las Vegas Bowl pays about about $1 million.
By comparison, Utah got an $800,000 check for playing at Michigan this year in a regular season game.
You're as well off financially to play at Michigan as playing in the Poinsettia Bowl.
Money is a big motivator in college football, but exposure might be even bigger. Big bowls draw big audiences, which helps recruiting. And recruiting gets you back to big bowls. And the big bowls bring in money.
Thus concludes today's session on college football microeconomics.