Rece Davis suggests monetary reward for players to keep bowl season alive

In the era of the 12-team College Football Playoff, bowl games have become less and less relevant.

Opt-outs and head coaching changes have completely stripped teams from their identities heading into postseason play. There has never been a change more desperately needed to save bowl season. On the latest edition of the ‘College GameDay Podcast‘, ESPN’s Rece Davis made his pitch for college football to turn bowl season into its own version of ‘The Player’s Era Festival’.

“I’ve got some ideas on how to save the bowls,” Davis said. “They may not like it because they may not make as much money. People have said the things like ‘let’s play the bowls at the beginning of the season and let’s make them not count on your record’. That’s a bad idea. If you’re gonna play, it’s got to count on your record or nobody’s going to care. I’m not even big on playing them right off the bat because we’ve seen the difference in all of those neutral site games early in the season as opposed to Texas at Ohio State. Home games are better. I’m a traditionalist and I like the bowls. They’re fun.”

Rece Davis says college football should embrace financial rewards for bowl games

While college basketball has embraced marquee home-and-home matchups, college football is still dead set on neutral site matchups. The common college football fan has clamored for more big home games in the sport, spotlighted by the College Football Playoff First Round games and the success around them. Thus, playing neutral site games to kick off the season would be off the table, if it were up to Davis.

“Historically, (bowl games) have been a very important piece of the puzzle historically in college football,” Davis said. “What do you do? Here’s what you do. I think I’ve said this before, but it becomes like The Player’s Era Festival in college basketball. You play for money. You got to a non-Playoff bowl game or any bowl game, and there’s a cash prize for the players. Winners get more and losers get less. Play for money. You’re already playing for money, so let’s play for some big prize. Get a corporate sponsorship. You hype it up and you play for money. That’s what I think you can do for the bowls.”

The Player’s Era Festival has been a big hit for the sport of college basketball, with the field even expanding from 18 to 32 next season. A cash prize has been proven to fuel competition (as shown at the Player’s Era), and this could certainly be a way to make bowl games matter again.