Americans Love the Little Guy, Too: How the Chattanoogas Win the Money Games

Winners

Americans love winners.  We can’t get enough of their games on TV or tickets to home games.  We love boasting, especially the arguing.  We have school pride. A writer may even rank her Top Ten Most Delusional fan bases from Alabama to Texas (alphabetically).  Whatever. 

Major college football has heard us.  To accommodate our ticket demands, our favorite teams play seven home and five away games. In one or two games, a lamb, aka non-BCS or FCS team, is led to the slaughter to the delight of the home coliseum crowd. 

Rarely do we think someone else has to play five home and seven away games. 

These poor slobs like Tennessee-Chattanooga, Tennessee-Martin, Troy, Louisiana-Monroe, Western Kentucky travel across the country to get beat by us by more than five touchdowns. 

They’re such losers, hoping to be the next Appalachian State. They leave town beaten, sore, humbled, put in their place, and a notch on our records towards another bowl invitation. 

Large (BCS) college football stadiums will take in $4 million-$5 million for each game.  Total profits from ’06-’07 bowls totaled $147 million.  BCS conferences rake in at least 85 percent of all those bowl profits.

Ticket price increases bring in more revenue.  Conference TV revenue adds to athletic budgets. When state legislatures have to cut university budgets due to shortfalls, major universities like Tennessee will be much less impacted than Chattanooga or Tenn-Martin.

Tennessee legislatures have already passed along the cuts.  University presidents and athletic directors decide on cutting university jobs and/or athletic programs. 

A pretty one-sided deal for the nobodies, right?  Beat up and beat down.  Boxed in with no place to go for the small schools?  No access to the big money and at the chopping block when the cuts are handed down.  Not so fast, my friend.

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