re: “Come be our guests for a few days. Eat well, see the sites. Play a game. Get paid.”

Am I missing something?

Short answer: Yes

Bowl game payouts go to the conference which then divies it up to the membership.

The schools that take a team to a bowl game typically LOSE money in the process.

Yes they get their share of the take but no one, not the conference, certainly not the bowl game people, not anyone pays for transportation to and from, room and lodging for the team which includes trainers, coaches, support staff as well as in most cases the band, the cheerleaders and a whole slew of other school officials and all of this is in addition to having to swallow hard to pay for the tickets allotted to the school that went unsold.

Bowl teams don't win the lottery, they pay through the nose.

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Am I missing something?

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Yes. Practice is now year round, so extra practice isn’t what it used to be. Spring practice is most important (almost all high school players enroll early plus it’s your first look at portal additions)…..December is better for teams not in the playoff to evaluate their roster, NIL, and potential portal additions. It’s better for players to have that time to speak with team and agents to decide if they’re staying or entering the portal.

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Come be our guests for a few days. Eat well, see the sites. Play a game. Get paid.”

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They don’t get paid by the bowl. It’s a game that doesn’t matter. They would rather eat and see the sites at a place of their choice for three weeks than practice for three weeks and not have much time for site seeing

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money maker for the school

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Nope. It’s a money loser. The only entity making money is evil Disney. The schools must sell their tickets and usually end up losing money on them. Travel expenses have grown and are a huge cost the school doesn’t want.