If you've ever wondered where all that ESPN money comes from

[jakldawg]

And how they are able to throw boatloads of money for broadcast rights, this explains it pretty clearly.
With some opinion here. And the money quote:

In a network as large and all-powerful as ESPN, can the largest sports reporting arm in the country continue to report fairly when they control the product they report about? If players getting in trouble is bad for the leagues when it comes to advertising, won't it be bad for the networks that monopolize their content as well? Isn't this a huge conflict? It's why I firmly believe that we will not see a college football playoff: ESPN has too much invested in their lower tier bowl programming to advocate against the system they now control. Just you wait - the BCS really sucks up until it arrives on ESPN's network in 2009. Then, oh boy, through the ESPN looking glass, the BCS isn't so bad after all.

Good reads for those of us <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">mailing it in</span> being "unconventionally productive" this morning.

 

[FlabLoser]

A playoff would be more lucrative for the media than a bowl system. ESPN buys up rights "on the cheap" before converting everything to a playoff system.