For example, End of Season Conference Tournaments. This year, the attendance was, to say the least low. A lot of the stands seen in those background shots, and in many cases they tried to avoid them, attendance was way, way down. In my opinion, they are not even necessary. They play all season to have a champion, then they have a tournament to crown another champion, why?
The market is now officially SATURATED. I find it odd, that there were so many "last minute comebacks" lopsided games that became close, I can almost visualize a MEMO from the TV network ...
To: All Athletic Directors
From: The TV Big Boys
Re: Conference End of Season Tournaments
Attendance this year is pathetic, advertisers are complaining, we CANNOT have this. Instruct ALL coaches and assistant coaches to take whatever steps are necessary to insure that tournament games are close, encourage comebacks, last minute wins and generate as much excitement as possible. The NCAA has also asked us to mention that, for their benefit, and the benefit of the leagues, that tournament winners should NOT be the same team that won their respective leagues. This could mean more revenue to the leagues by affording more teams participating in the highly publicized "March Madness," Your financial remuneration depends greatly upon these "guidelines" being followed.
Yours in good and fair sportsmanship...on TV that is...............
/s/
