Had to do some digging on that one. From the NCAA FCS Pre-Champs Manual for 2017:wiu712 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:57 amHypothetical Question: Who hosts if neither competing team submits a bid ????
This concept of having to bid to host a playoff game seems very backwards to me. Instead, the NCAA should be paying these home sites for the use of their facilities. The NCAA is using university-owned property for their own financial gain.
We had a much better format back in the 90's when the 16-team field was seeded 1-16. And the team with the higher seed would be the host.
So it sounds like if neither submits bids, then they look at things like the facility, attendance history, etc.When determining host institutions for playoff games when both teams are unseeded, criteria shall apply as follows:
(1) quality of facility, (2) revenue potential plus estimated net receipts, (3) attendance history and potential, (4) team’s
performance (i.e., conference place finish, head-to-head results and number of Division I opponents), and (5) student-
athlete well-being (e.g., travel and missed class time).
The NCAA does pay the traveling teams travel costs and stuff. Plus, the assumption is that a team hosting places a bid based on what they think they can make back in ticket sales, concessions, etc. A cut of that does go to the NCAA, but for most schools who actually draw a decent crowd, they likely get somewhere around the break-even point on hosting a playoff game.
So, just like how NDSU pays teams like Mississippi Valley State and Robert Morris to come play (without a return game) and FBS teams pay us to come play at their place (without a return game at Hanson Field), the host team should end up making back what they spent and possibly more.