We keep dancing around the obvious issue that players have no incentive to play in pointless bowl games.
What if, and stay with me for a moment, they simply provided money to the players in exchange for goods and services rendered?
Seems like the logical solution, as these games are already an overly-sponsored grab bag of useless merchandise and handouts to the players they’ll never use.
If you’re okay handing them a $500 prepaid Visa for their trouble, how about putting serious financial incentives for teams to earn at the end of the season?
Anything else is effectively stealing labor and leveraging the powerless players to compete in a game that only further risks their health for the profit of others.