Those who follow Major League baseball are anticipating a lockout after the collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1.
Many argue the discrepancy in payrolls doesn’t lead to a competitive environment for many MLB teams. The two-time defending World Series champion LA Dodgers have a $297 million payroll according to Spotrac.
The Miami Marlins were at $77.7 million.
The Marlins have played better than expected, but that isn’t the point. It’s difficult for fans to realistically expect their team to be competitive year in and year out when their payroll is roughly one fourth the total of the World Series champs.
This is a roundabout way of saying welcome to college football. Specifically, to the Grand Canyon-sized gap that exists between the Power Four and the Group of Six.
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There haven’t been official numbers released to the public regarding how much P4 schools are spending on their rosters, but it’s believed to be generally a lot more than G6 schools, likely in the Dodgers-Marlins scope of things.
One area where there are statistics is in coaching salary. The USA Today database for head coaches’ salaries shows a major gap between P4 and G6.
The top 43 salaries came from P4 schools. The 44th was Jamey Chadwell of Liberty at $5.8 million, well below No. 1 Kirby Smart of Georgia ($13.2 million).
If one thinks this is a big discrepancy in coaching salaries, imagine the difference in what the players are making.
It is challenging for G6 schools to be competitive with such a salary disparity. Can some G6 schools beat higher-paid P4 schools? Absolutely. But in the long-term, it’s becoming more difficult to keep up with the top programs.
Even the top G6 schools are like the Cleveland Indians, harboring much smaller payrolls and having to make the most of their finances.
Actually, it might even be easier for lower-salaried MLB teams to be competitive than it is for G6 schools. This is a broken system, and the P4 power brokers could care less about G6 schools.
They can give lip service, but the fact remains I expect the P4 schools would like to keep their “little brother” G6ers out of the College Football Playoff if they weren’t fearful of congressional pressure.
Do the P4 schools have a point?
They want to make the most money possible while paying top dollar for their product. G6 schools can’t afford the same level of investment.
Another wide gap is in attendance. According to D1ticker.com, eight P4 schools averaged more than 100,000 in attendance this past season. Those eight were Alabama, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, and Texas A&M.
By comparison, the highest G6 school in terms of attendance was Fresno State, which averaged 38,030.
In some ways, it’s not a level playing field when considering how much revenue the P4 schools generate compared to the G6.
One solution? Having two separate playoffs.
G6 teams would likely not be in favor of this because it would give the impression of second-class status. Plus the TV money received from competing in the postseason is a big deal to the G6 schools.
Could an all-G6 playoff be more compelling than the setup now? Look at the FCS playoffs. It is compelling football. This past season, Montana State beat Illinois State 35-34 in overtime in the FCS title game. It was great drama and excitement.
Compare that to the two G6 teams that earned a College Football Playoff berth:
Ole Miss 41, Tulane 10
Oregon 51, James Madison 34
A Tulane-James Madison game would have been much more interesting to watch.
The current system doesn’t make things easy for G6 schools to closely compete with the P4 teams in the CFP. There might be outliers some years, but I think it can’t happen on a consistent basis.
