I haven't seen this posted before, so apologies if this is a booth.

My cousin went to the 49ers preview center in Santa Clara today. During their sales pitch, they told him they were close to signing an agreement with the Pac12 to host the conference championship game in the new stadium.

It sure would be nice if Cal could make it to the conference championship game and play in what would essentially be a home game and then advance.....

That would seem to go against everything Larry's said about ensuring a sell out crowd for the game by having the higher ranked team host. Weird, maybe I missed something.

Wonder how close to an agreement? Guess the stadium is slated for a 2014 opening so at least 2 more 'home games' for the P12 CCG.

IMO, Los Angeles and Santa Clara (SF) are the only places that could sell tickets well when non- local schools are in the game and get good representation from both north and south. Seattle is a maybe, but people are not traveling from down south, so that's a guaranteed major home field for a NW team. Denver? No way... too far. Even LA is a tough sell since it seems to devalue the Rose Bowl there less than a month later, even if the get a spanking new stadium. Still, will it ever sell out or just sell OK?

That will sure get some other schools a little upset. Oh well F them. outlying schools are gonna bitch about being left out of the rotation, but that's not what it's really about. you want the game played in a population center, and CA is the Pac 12's population base. When a state makes up 2/3 of the population base for a conference, it makes no sense to play the game on a evenly distributed rotation. They are also winning big time in TV money due to CA TV sets.

BB in Vegas, FB in Reno. On a good year, skiing as part of the build up.:crazy

It is obvious that we bet the house in the conference expansion window when the PAC-12 did not organize any plans for the league championship game in neutral stadiums, although those circumstances also have to do with the fact that there are no great options on the West Coast for neutral sites, all you have is either Qualcomm in San Diego, the Coliseum or Candlestick in the Bay Area, or go up north to Seattle for CenturyLink (Boyd Stadium in Vegas is too small, and Mackay in Reno is a total dump). Santa Clara is not too great an option either, but we need something to get away from the silliness of on-campus conference championship games.

However, the best place in the PAC-12 for a championship game right now is University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, and nobody comes even close. Aside from the geographical issue, the facilities currently blow the doors off everybody else, but we need something decent in a more central geography.

CalBeast;731228 said:

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I'm pretty ambivalent about any of these options to be honest, but I think we need to know what the goal and expectation of the game is before picking the best option. Whatever option they pick though, you don't want cameras showing a bunch of empty seats - that's just bad PR.

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Whatever we do in regards to neutral conference championship sites, I don't think we have to worry about bad PR stemming from empty stadiums, because the ACC already has the floor set for ineptitude:



The other thing to consider also is that if the South continues to be dominated by USC, the league title game will not have any issues with attendance, they are the great fanbase for away game attendance, and Oregon fans travel well also. A championship game anywhere in California would be well-attended by Cal fans too. Even with recruiting sanctions, USC would have to literally fall off the face of the earth to be considered a non-favorite for the South every year. The PAC-12 league title game may not have good attendance only if it is in Arizona without an Arizona school in it, unless Utah or Colorado participate.

Strykur;731224 said:

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It is obvious that we bet the house in the conference expansion window when the PAC-12 did not organize any plans for the league championship game in neutral stadiums, although those circumstances also have to do with the fact that there are no great options on the West Coast for neutral sites, all you have is either Qualcomm in San Diego, the Coliseum or Candlestick in the Bay Area, or go up north to Seattle for CenturyLink (Boyd Stadium in Vegas is too small, and Mackay in Reno is a total dump). Santa Clara is not too great an option either, but we need something to get away from the silliness of on-campus conference championship games.

However, the best place in the PAC-12 for a championship game right now is University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, and nobody comes even close. Aside from the geographical issue, the facilities currently blow the doors off everybody else, but we need something decent in a more central geography.

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Just because the SEC can successfully fill the Georgia Dome for its title game, does not mean the Pac-12 should attempt to institute the same model.

The SEC has the distinct advantage that most of its powerhouse programs are within 6 hours of the Georgia Dome. Fans of those schools will get in a car and drive to Atlanta to see the game in person.

Pac-12 schools do not have the same advantage. The Santa Clara site has the advantage of being centrally located within the conference's footprint, but traveling by car to Santa Clara will often exceed 8 hours. Here are some travel times to Great American Parkway in Santa Clara, by car, as indicated by Google Maps (ranked longest travel time to shortest travel time):

Folsom Field (Boulder, CO) - 1,296 mi., 20 hrs. 18 mins.
Martin Stadium (Pullman, WA) - 898 mi., 16 hrs. 40 mins.
CenturyLink Field (Seattle, WA) - 835 mi., 13 hrs. 59 mins.
Arizona Stadium (Tucson, AZ) - 829 mi., 13 hrs. 36 mins.
Rice-Eccles Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT) - 765 mi., 12 hrs. 11 min.
Sun Devil Stadium (Tempe, AZ) - 725 mi., 11 hrs. 53 mins.
Reser Stadium (Corvallis, OR) - 600 mi., 10 hrs. 0 mins.
Autzen Stadium (Eugene, OR) - 557 mi., 9 hrs. 12 mins.
LA Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles, CA) - 350 mi., 5 hrs. 55 mins.
Rose Bowl Stadium (Pasadena, CA) - 345 mi., 5 hrs. 51 mins.
California Memorial Stadium (Berkeley, CA) - 45.2 mi., 0 hrs 58 mins.
Stanf*rd Stadium (Stanf*rd, CA) - 13.2 mi., 0 hrs 23 mins.

It is less than certain that the proposed 49ers Stadium will sell out for the Pac-12 CCG. Oregon showed that holding the CCG in the home stadium of the Pac-12 #1 seed will sell out the house.

Travel times are greatly reduced when air travel is the principal mode of transportation. Denver, CO to:
San Francisco, CA - 2 hrs 26 mins.
San Jose, CA - 2 hrs 21 mins.

Because of fuel costs current price levels (high), neither air travel or going by car will be cheap. Holding CCGs at the home stadium of the #1 seed holds its own advantages.

I think the 'rotate the CCG between' 3-4 'neutral' sites is trying too hard to be fair. California is the biggest market, therefore the CCG makes the most sense in either the 9er's new stadium or (when it happens) Farmer's Field in LA. I'd also accept the UoP/Cardinals stadium in Arizona, though I think its not ideal due to travel.

It should not be the Rose Bowl. That has its own, higher game to worry about. Plus, its not exactly in the best shape itself.

I don't mind the homefield of the winner plan. Packed houses look good and it gives something extra to play for. I think its either that or you pick one neutral site location and call it a day.