What I'm 100% sure about is that we need to keep the championship game AND the east/west format. However, I'm on the fence about where the SCG should be held. In some regards if the goal and vision is to grow the game in attendance, exposure, sponsorship, and revenue then we need to have a solid long-term plan.
I think after the host school this year provides their feedback related to expenses and logistics then we'll at least have a benchmark to compare to the previous neutral sites of the game. For the sake of a basic illustration of my point, let's say the cost to host the game in Houston (or whatever city) was $100K but it cost $50K to host on campus, then you look at sponsorships and then look at the bottom line in the way of profits. Of course, the cost of hosting on different campuses could vary greatly depending on current infrastructure.
So, once the analysis is done then we could come to the conclusion that a neutral site is better but look at a smaller venue, rotate the neutral site every 5 or 10 years, and/or negotiate a helluva deal with the host city and secure a title sponsor that even a larger venue is still feasible. However, if that $50K gap can't be closed then from a profit standpoint it would be hard to justify playing on a neutral site.
The known is that at least 85% of those that have attended the SCG have been fans of the two participating schools. If I had to guess, at least 65% had to travel some distance to the game. This year is probably no different and for sure the attendance can not exceed capacity of the stadium, even if an additional $5K-$10K are out tailgating because they couldn't get inside.
